A very Sidious Menace
by JediKage96
Summary: An alternate rendition of Revenge of the Sith, branching off to a complete AU. Features Light!Anakin Smart!Anakin; No bashing (yet), and usual pairings. Full story summary on the inside.
1. Turmoil

About this fic: This fic begins with my own rendition of the events of Revenge of the Sith, with the characters and some of the story elements being the same. The events of TPM and AotC have not been altered. The events branch off into a complete AU after the end of RotS.

Summary: We all know the story of Darth Vader, who was once the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. What would happen if Anakin was never seduced by the Dark Side, and the Skywalker family was never separated? How would the galaxy fare if the Jedi Purge never took place, and the Order reforms to become an active force for Light?

AN 1: Normal font -Signifies events as they transpire.

 _Italics - Signify thoughts/flashbacks_

 ** _Bold/Bold Italics - Signify thoughts in a flashback_** (It's not too complicated, you'll see. :P)

AN 2: This is my first attempt at putting my thoughts to words, so pardon me if you find it to be crude, but I hope you don't.

Disclaimer: The Force does not belong to me, just flows through. Neither do lightsabers, sadly.

Edit 1(29/07/17): Beta credits to **anand891996**. Thanks, git.

Chapter 1:

Turmoil.

Anger, despair, fear and hatred welled up inside Anakin Skywalker, clouding his ability to think clearly, as he walked in through the now-empty Jedi Council chamber door. Anger, at the way the Jedi Council had refused him the title of 'Master' without even a second thought. Despair and fear, at what would happen if the dreams he'd been having were to come true. If he were to lose...her. Finally hatred, at the way he'd been betrayed by the one he thought of as his friend and mentor. Apparently, no one did anything without an ulterior motive anymore. Trust was suddenly hard to come by, even though he was surrounded by a Temple-full of beings that were supposed to promote the very same sentiment.

Everything had been alright till those dreams had started. Bloody Force visions. The apparently sentient metaphysical concept seemed to have decided that it would make his life a giant headache. Given the really weird circumstances of his birth, he might even go as far as saying he had Daddy issues.

He thought back to the conversation he'd had with Grand Master Yoda a few weeks ago, about the very same dreams, as he made to seat himself on his Council chair.

"Train yourself to let go of all that you fear to lose.", the Grand Master had said, but how could he? This was about Padme's life, damn it!

The Supreme Chancellor had said something about being able to influence the Midichlorians to prevent others from dying...

Anakin shook his head and stood up. No, the Chancellor was a Sith Lord, a master at manipulating people, abstaining them from thinking clearly. The possibility of more power and being able to save Padme was lucrative, but the cost was too much, and he didn't even know if the Chancellor could live up to his claims. Defecting from the Order that had given him the chance at a new life when he'd been a slave in a desert planet was too abhorrent an idea. Of course, the Order was not impeccable, either. Bound by completely archaic ideals and governed by conceited fools, no less, but at least they had provided him with a new home and trained him to face his fears and stand up to those who wronged not just him, but the galaxy at large.

Anakin sighed and turned his face towards the Coruscant skyline. The setting sun seemed to set the entire duracrete and steel landscape ablaze. He turned his gaze towards the cluster of towers where the Senators lived. Where Padme lived. He couldn't lose her, not now, not ever. Especially not after the recent development. He let his thoughts drift back to their reunion, after the mission to rescue the Chancellor.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Anakin walked into the Senate building along with Senator Bail Organa, who seemed exceedingly unperturbed compared to all the other Senators who were positively gushing with appreciation at the Chancellor's rescue at his hands. The Alderaanian Senator was more concerned about the continuation of the war irrespective of Count Dooku's capture, and he voiced his thoughts out loud. Granted, that Organa had some very useful insights as to what the continuation of war meant to the Galaxy, but Anakin's mind wasn't in the conversation. He was finally back on Coruscant after so long, and he was in the Senate Tower, which meant Padme was somewhere nearby.._

 _Anakin drew in on the Force to enhance his sensory cognition and felt around for the aura of his beloved. Surprisingly, he didn't have to look far. She was standing behind one of the massive pillars to the side of the Senate Tower main hall, down which Anakin was currently walking, and was apparently aware of his presence. He mentally smiled at the perceivable elation in her feelings on sighting him._

 ** _"To hell with the political protocol nonsense. This is more important."_** _, Anakin thought, as he excused himself from Organa's presence and rushed to where Padme was. Hidden from the view of the rest of the Main Hall, she jumped into his arms, wrapped her hands behind his neck and her lips rushed up to meet his._

 _"Oh, it's been far too long", Anakin giddily thought to himself. They stayed that way for almost a minute, while Anakin enveloped her aura in his, letting her soak in his happiness, while he assuaged her worries. He basked in her presence, which he found so thoroughly comforting, ever since they'd confessed their love for each other. Still, there was a small prickle of emotions that emanated from her every few seconds, suggesting something on her mind. He'd let her bring it up on her own, though._

 _"Oh Anakin, you've been gone for almost two months, with next to no communication as to your well-being! I had to wait for the official report every week to know what was going on! You have no idea how worried I was, especially with all those rumours about your death flying around!"_

 _"I'm sorry, but I couldn't do anything about it, sweetheart. The Outer Rim sieges were just one disaster piled on the other. We managed to pull through in the end, but during, there was barely any time for us Jedi to sit back at the command center. And with all the communications between Coruscant and the Outer Rim being monitored on all Jedi and Republic comm frequencies, I had no chance to talk to you.", Anakin sighed, and looked into her eyes._

 _"And no, nothing the Seperatists have invented has any chance of harming me in any way. Not while I have you to return to.", he said with a smile._

 _Her fears abated, she buried himself in his embrace yet again, drawing comfort from his presence. It was then that Anakin noticed that the tiny emotional surge he'd felt earlier was distinct in comparison to the rest of her aura. Almost like, another presence.._

 _Anakin's eyes widened with realization._

XXXXXXXXXX

That day had been one of the happiest of his life, as far as he could remember. Padme had given him that, and she was to be the mother of his children. No, he couldn't go on without her, that much was clear. He loved her too much to let her go, irrespective of what Yoda had said. He was not like the other Jedi Knights. Hell, even the troops under him expected him to act unconventionally. The Clone Captain under his command, Rex, had even attained his own rebellious streak, making use of unpredictable methods, if he thought it would meet the end goals easily or at lesser troop cost. Anakin wasn't like the other "ideal" Jedi in most ways. No, he was different, and he'd find his own way out of this mess.

That damned Palpatine. A Sith Lord masquerading as the Supreme Chancellor, no less, right under the eyes of the Jedi, all the while masterminding both sides of the war, he was indeed powerful to have been able to put up this deception for so long. For all his faults, Yoda had been right about one thing: The Dark Side did cloud everything. Layering his deception with promises of unfathomable power seemed exactly the kind of cliche one would expect from a vile person like Palpatine. No, Anakin was supposed to be powerful and a force for Light. He couldn't give in to becoming a tool in such obvious ploys at power grabbing. He'd had his doubts, ever since their conversation after Anakin had "rescued" Palpatine, aboard Grievous' ship.

There was something very large at play here. Something to do with him, Palpatine, the Republic and the Jedi Order. Still, even with all that power at his disposal, the man didn't strike him to be very bright. Palpatine's claims that the Jedi Order wanted power and to take over the Republic was such an obvious and terrible try at making him switch sides that Anakin wondered exactly how Palpatine had managed to stay his deception from getting discovered for so long. Smarts like that, he might as well have a billboard light up over him saying "Wanna be a Sith like me?" every time he tried to tell Anakin about some convoluted plot the Jedi had apparently cooked up to get Palpatine overthrown. Anakin wondered if that man had even tried to plan the subtleties for his "Mission: Power Grab". Or, if that mission was ever his original idea. Probably not.

Just like that time aboard Grievous's destroyer. That mission had started it all. Anakin's doubts, the dreams and Palpatine's attempts at "slyly" converting him.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Anakin opened the hatch of his Jedi Starfighter and Force leaped out, igniting his lightsaber, as it skidded to a rest in the hangar of Grievous's ship, while Obi-Wan Kenobi's starfighter just plowed through a couple of droids, having lost a wing, costing his starfighter it's stability and aerodynamics, in their attempt to get into the Separatist command ship. There were just a few dozen battle droids there, apparently gawking with confusion at someone's nerve to directly attack the command ship with a two-man team. Well, he'd use their overconfidence against them, and after all, they were no ordinary two-man team, Anakin thought with a smile._

 _Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi had just infiltrated the Seperatist command ship, before the opponent could even think of locking down the Hangar bay doors._

 _Anakin's flip carried him over a Battle droid and he severed it's head as he went, before landing right in front of a group of clankers, as the clones had come to call them. He landed in a crouch and slashed the legs of the two in front of him, before reversing his swing and slicing the blade through their torsos. The remaining three managed to squeeze of a bolt from their blasters, before he deftly flicked his saber in an arc and reflected the bolts right back at their heads. The droids collapsed faster than they could've said "Roger". Using the Force to fuel his movements, Anakin ran towards the remaining droids while swiftly reflecting all bolts fired upon him back to their owners. The next two groups fell quickly under his Djem-So style lightsaber movements, and then rolled behind the last two droids in front of him and slashed their bodies in half. One last droid stood a few meters behind him and sprayed a few shots in his general direction. Anakin lazily flicked his saber behind him, reflecting the shot headed for his back, effectively dispatching the droid without so much as a glance. It's head popped off faster than it's system could register surprise. Being Force-sensitive definitely had it's perks._

 _Anakin turned and surveyed the scene. Obi-Wan stood about 20 paces to his left, having turned about two dozen droids to scrap, without having suffered even a scratch. How anyone considered these to be a suitable competitor to the Clone Army of the Republic, he'd never know. Grievous probably had a Bantha for a technical advisor._

 _"All right over there, old man? Need to catch a break before we head over to get the Chancellor?" Anakin smirked._

 _"Took out more droids than you, and not even out of breath, Anakin." Obi-Wan smiled. "Get R2 to check for the Chancellor's location."_

 _"R2! You heard the old man!"_

 _A flurry of whistles and beeps later, R2-D2, astromech extraordinaire, had connected to the Ship's system from a port and was projecting a hologram with a path to the Chancellor's position highlighted. Well, this was where the fun began._

 _"At the top of the Command Tower. Pretty sure they'd expect us to take a 'Kill-box' up, and on top of that, I sense an ambush. Any ideas?"._

 _"Well, then, let's spring our own ambush.", Obi-Wan smirked. The elevator was the most obvious trap, but Anakin had seen how smart these people were. Apparently the idea that someone could see through their plans never occurred to them._

 _"R2, shut off the cameras in the corridor leading out of the hangar bay to the elevator shafts. Pretty sure they're stupid enough to wait for us to call an elevator." Turning to Obi-Wan, he said "Hop on to the top of one as it goes up and break and enter at the top."_

 _"Sounds good. Anakin, usual formation. They corridor's bound to have droids. And take different elevators up. Let's show them who they're messing with."_

 _Without another word, they sped off. The usual formation had Obi-Wan taking the front and effectively scouting, while Anakin brought up the rear, while being as inconspicuous about his presence. Obi-Wan's mastery of the Soresu lightsaber form ensured that he'd be able to hold off any troops that he met, without expending much energy, while waiting for Anakin to catch up. Also, it negated most ambushes, as Anakin would follow without revealing his presence. Wouldn't be much of an ambush if the ambushers themselves got sprung upon._

 _Obi-Wan jogged up the corridor, easily reflecting shots and slicing through any droid that was malfunctioning enough to get close to a Jedi with a lightsaber. He reached the elevator shaft and turned around, the sound of metal rolling on metal reaching his ears._

 _"Destroyers. Great." Two Droidekas, or Destroyers as the Clones had coined them, rolled up and disentangled, throwing up a deflector shield. The shield negated any chance for Obi-Wan to take them out by reflecting their shots right back at them, so he'd just have to hold out against their barrage till Anakin showed up._

 _The Destroyers unleashed their twin blaster-cannon arms and opened fire. Obi-Wan slipped into the Soresu form he'd adapted to fight multiple ranged weapon bearing enemies and deflected all the shots focused on his person. He didn't have to hold up for long though, as Anakin walked in behind the droids and dispatched both of them with one slash of his saber._

 _Without waiting, both Jedi cut open a door to the shaft and jumped onto an elevator riding to the top. Anakin's elevator stopped a few floors shy of the highest floor, and without missing a stride, he fired the grappling hook attached to his belt to the roof of the shaft and reeled himself up. The elevators opened straight up into the observation deck, the lower level of which housed a single chair with a lone person upon it: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. What kind of captors took someone hostage and left with no one behind to keep an eye on them? Apparently this was the "ambush", and by the looks of it Obi-Wan had sensed it too, if his raised eyebrow was anything to go by._

 _"Go and free the Chancellor. I can't sense anyone else's presence in the room, and due to our elaborate ride up the shaft, it'll take a few more minutes for the Separatists to work out what's happened. I'll keep watch here, as it's the only way up or down." Obi-Wan said._

 _Anakin walked up to the Chancellor and slashed off the wrist manacles with his saber._

 _"Chancellor, I hope you're alright? We made haste in hurrying over to rescue you."_

 _"Yes, yes, I'm fine, Anakin. The Separatists decided I was more useful to them with all my limbs attached, apparently.", Palpatine answered._

 _Still, he seemed distracted and didn't have any of the urgency a hostage would display when given a chance to go free. In fact, he seemed to be expecting something, or someone, given his craning over Anakin's shoulder. Anakin ignored that as a stupid thought, and motioned towards the elevators._

 _"Shall we, Chancellor?"_

 _"Of course, yes, let's go. No point in lingering here after all.."_

 _Anakin raised a metaphorical eyebrow at that, but continued to walk towards the lifts, with the Chancellor tailing behind, apparently lost in thought._

 _"Anakin, one of the elevators' heading up, and I can feel a Dark presence in it." Obi-Wan shouted._

 _"I bet my saber it's that traitor, Dooku."_

 _"Don't, you wouldn't do well fighting without it."_

 _Resisting his urge to facepalm, Anakin queried "How do we handle this?"_

 _"Hold on..", Obi-Wan said, rummaging his belt pouch._

 _Palpatine immediately piped up "Oh, you're no match for him, Master Kenobi! He's a Sith Lord! Anakin, you must fight him alone and kill him! Show the Jedi Order that your skills far exceed that of any normal Jedi!"_

 _Obi-Wan turned to Palpatine with a twitch in his smile._

 _"Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords seem to be_ ** _my_** _speciality, given how Darth Maul ended up."_

 _Palpatine clammed up, but his indignation shot up again, when Obi-Wan dropped an object he'd pulled out of his belt pouch down the shaft._

 _"What was that?"_

 _"One of Commander Cody's signature EMP Grenades, with the only distinction that it affects living beings the same way as it does electronic devices."_

 _Anakin couldn't help but give a short laugh at that. Apparently being Rex's friend meant his idiosyncrasy rubbed off on you._

xxx

 _Count Dooku was brimming with anticipation at this opportunity to bring down two of the Order's most powerful Jedi, and at the chance to show his Sith Master as to just how strong and reliable his apprentice was, despite his age. After this success, Lord Sidious would never question his loyalty to the Sith cause ever again, and even train him to channel the Dark Side better. All of Dooku's abilities with the Force were either purely combat oriented, or used to persuade the weak minded. He wanted to train more in the Darker arts, which might even lead him to discover the secret to immortality. And finally, when his Master least suspected it, he'd put his plans to advance Lord Bane's Rule of Two further into motion, and-_

 _A series of clunks which sounded like an object clattering on to the top of the elevator broke the aging Count out of his musings. Dooku frowned and looked up, while at the same time the two Super Battle droids he'd brought with him queried as to the origin of the noise. Neither had any time to react when the EMP went off, the powerful electrical surge throwing the Count off the floor and back down on it, while an unintentional scream let loose from his throat._

 _The massive Super-Battle droid, with a reinforced chassis collapsing right on top of him didn't help his already losing fight against unconsciousness either._

xxx

 _A disembodied shriek echoed up the elevator shaft, making both the Jedi up top chuckle._

" _Isn't the elevator supposed to be sound-proof from the inside?" Obi-Wan queried._

 _"That's a nice set of lungs the Count's got on him. I don't suppose that would've helped Dooku's balding problem much either.." Anakin said, actually sounding impressed at his first statement's implications._

 _Twenty minutes later, after a jaunt down the previously-standstill elevator (Courtesy: Incredible Astromech), with a slightly smouldering Dooku, and a less-than-elated-for-some-reason Chancellor, the group stood in the Hangar, with Anakin hauling Dooku on his back._

 _"Well, my starfighter's wrecked. Let's find something a little more flyable than that, shall we?" Obi-Wan sighed._

 _As if on cue, a Droid Gunship piloted itself into the Hangar bay. It was a massive ship, with 6 turrets on it's various surfaces. The rear ramp opened, and a loud clanking sound ensued, that sounded suspiciously like footsteps._

 _Anakin looked at Obi-Wan morbidly. "You had to ask.."_

 _A huge, hulking cyborg walked down the ramp of the Gunship and turned to look straight at their group. Given the Count's body being hauled like a sack of Bantha fodder, it was safe to assume that General Grievous, for it was he, was not in a happy mood. Anakin unceremoniously dumped Dooku to one side, and detached his Lightsaber. Grievous growled inhumanly and narrowed his eyes._

 _"We have a job to do Anakin. Try not to upset him." Obi-Wan said._

 _Two other droids walked down the ramp of the Gunship, each holding a staff with electromagnetic discharges at each end._

 _"IG-100 Magnaguards.", Anakin said, "As if the one droid wasn't enough."_

 _"AAARGH!" Grievous yelled and charged, pulling out two lightsabers from his hip holster._

 _Apparently he was still touchy about the 'Droid' thing._

 _Anakin met Grievous' charge head on, while Obi-Wan circled around him to deal with the Magnaguards. The first droid stabbed low, and Obi-Wan vaulted over, slicing it's head off mid-leap. He then charged the other droid, which parried his slash using it's staff. Apparently it was made of Cortosis, else the saber would've melted straight through. What caught Obi-Wan off guard was another that hit his left shoulder from behind, throwing him to the floor._

 ** _"WHAT? I took off that thing's head! How is it still fighting?"._** _Obi-Wan exclaimed silently to himself._

 _Obi-Wan turned that fall into a roll, and stood up to face the droids. His shoulder stung from the hit, but it didn't pose too much of a problem. He was thinking of a way to dispatch the droids quickly so that he could get back to helping Anakin, but before he could think of anything, there was a loud "Bleeeeep", and a very familiar Astromech fell from above on to the headless droid, shattering it's chassis. Before the other Magnaguard could register what had occured, R2 activated it's thrusters and shot off, and Obi-Wan closed the gap between them, following up with a mid-level slash to dispatch the droid._

 _"So much for expensive droid bodyguards.."_

 _Meanwhile, Anakin and Grievous were engaged in a fierce lightsaber duel. Given that both of them favored offensive strikes, the battle would only end when one tired out or made a mistake. And Droids didn't really come with stamina issues._

 _Still, Anakin was a master duelist. His skills with a saber were almost unrivaled, said to be on the same level as Grand Master Yoda, and given his affinity to the Force, battle precognition came to him naturally. This led to Grievous losing one of his appendages in the duel that followed. Grievous kicked out at Anakin when his limb was severed, the latter just managing to flip out of the way. Grievous turned around to see Obi-Wan running towards him. Facing off against two seasoned Jedi, minus one appendage wasn't good odds for anybody, and Grievous knew he had to beat a hasty retreat if he wanted to live._

 _He pulled out a comm link._

 _"Command center, This is General Grievous! Vent the Hangar bay level! Also, all batteries, open fire at the nearest Republic ship!"_

 _Grievous made use of the ensuing chaos to run for the corridor leading to the Command center and sealed it off, grinning madly at the apparent demise of his opponents. It meant Count Dooku's death too, but he didn't really care about that. He could modify how the events transpired later, when reporting to Lord Sidious._

 _Obi-Wan and Anakin just nodded at each other, grabbed the Chancellor and still-out-cold Dooku and ran aboard the Droid Gunship Grievous had arrived in, with R2 flying behind on his jets. The ramp of the HMP-class_ _Gunship was still open when the Hangar got vented, but all ships that were not one-man starfighters had a separately sealed cockpit, which meant death only if you were still in the hold when it lost atmospheric pressure. Having made it to the cockpit in time, R2 reprogrammed the flight path and details of the droid brain controlling the ship_ _and piloted it_ _out of the hangar bay._ _After transmitting codes to Republic ships proclaiming them to be allies in a ship belonging to the opposite faction, Anakin made for the surface of Coruscant, leaving it to the squadron of Clone starfighters on his tail to take care of any enemy reinforcements._

XXXXXXXXXX

Anakin hadn't made much of the Chancellor's apprehension back then, pinning it to being unable to think rationally at being held hostage. Although, now that he recollected the event as it transpired, it seemed more like Palpatine was expecting Dooku to show up and Anakin to defeat him. Obi-Wan had seen to that not occurring and Palpatine was thrown off his game. But still, to what end? What could Palpatine have hoped to gain by goading a Jedi into killing his own apprentice? The more he thought about it, the more he realised that Palpatine's endgame was twisted beyond the hope of his comprehension. He was missing quite a few details.

He'd have to get to the bottom of this quickly. Master Windu had departed from the Jedi Temple about ten minutes ago, along with a few other Masters from the Council, to apprehend the Chancellor for his crimes against the Republic. If all of this was a trap, Anakin had to make sure the Jedi weren't caught in it.

Still, Palpatine's elaborate scheme had to be in place for years before he'd even become Senator, and it seemed impossible that one person would attain such power and mastermind such a huge deception on his own. Maul, Dooku and Ventress had just been pawns the entire time, and Anakin doubted that they'd known anything pertaining to Palpatine's goals.

Anakin paced the Council chamber, wondering if somehow the Chancellor had known about his existence, and was aware as to the circumstances of his birth. It would seem so, given how much interest he'd taken in him ever since Naboo. Was that why he wanted Anakin to betray the Order and switch sides? All the not-so-subtle hinting on Palpatine's part seemed to say so.

Still, even if he got Anakin to switch sides, how did he plan to deal with the Jedi? It wasn't like they would be able to hide it anymore, and neither would they be able to fight them head on, no matter how skilled they were. There were tens of thousands of Jedi all over the galaxy, after all, fighting battles on various planets and in outer-space. The only way to be able to take all of them out would be to swiftly and simultaneously take them out in a way they would least expect. What was common to all Jedi that would lead to spontaneous extermination?

Anakin stilled, realization hitting him faster than a ship exiting Hyperspace. The Jedi were blind! Of course, this was where the Clone Army came into play! That's why it's creation had been kept secret for so long, and the Order had just accepted being made Generals of the army that had rescued them at Geonosis all those years ago! The army was comprised of Clones that were bred to follow orders, and the highest rank they recognised was that of the Supreme Chancellor!

ARC Trooper Fives. That's what his entire tirade had been about. He was going on about a chip implanted in all Clones and a plot to destroy the Jedi, and the Coruscant Guard had gunned him down before he could even utter another word.

This was it. He could feel it. He had to warn Master Windu and the others and he had to prevent the Chancellor from issuing a contingency order to the Clone army. He could not turn his back on the Jedi Order, no matter how lucrative the Sith Lord's offer seemed. It would definitely not be what Padme would want and it defied all morals that his mother had stood by, too. He couldn't betray them.

No, the dreams he'd been having were just omens and not visions of the future. The future was always in motion, and he'd see to it that Padme was in his. But first, he had to rid the galaxy of this vile and impending doom, because he was the Chosen One.

And because, without the Jedi, there could be no balance.


	2. Charades and Morons

**AN1: Slightly shorter chapter, but I couldn't help it, with exams and stuff going on. Also, I plan to have a more-or-less weekly update schedule, with a new chapter every Friday/Saturday.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Guest: Dooku's a prisoner of the Jedi, for now. I have plans for him and he'll be re-introduced in a couple more chapters.**

 **So, PM me with any queries and please, REVIEW(!), so that I know what's good/ what can be improved upon!**

 **Of course, Beta credits to anand891996.**

 **Thanks for reading! Enjoy, and May the Force be with You.**

Chapter 2:

Anakin ran out of the Council chambers and made his way to the Temple Hangars as fast as he could. He had to be careful about this. He had to act in a way Chancellor Palpatine would not expect him to. While he made his way down, Anakin thought back to the conversation he'd had with the Chancellor back in the Senate building. Maybe if he could remember it as it were, he might pick up some little detail he'd missed back then.

XXXXXXX

 _Anakin walked into the Chancellor's office, wondering if a Holocall wouldn't have sufficed for whatever it is that Palpatine wanted. He had other people to get back to!_

 _Hearing him walk in, Palpatine shut off whatever Hologram he was looking at, and turned to greet him, sitting on his revolving high-backed chair._

 _"Ah, yes, Anakin! First off all, let me re-emphasize on my gratitude for you rescuing me. That was adeptly handled by you and Master Kenobi."_

 _"Think nothing of it, Chancellor. It was our mission, and it's the least I could do to repay you for being my mentor in everything outside of the Jedi Order. You've thanked me for it enough times, as it is."_

 _"My boy, a mentor never expects repayment when he offers to teach someone on his own." he said, standing up. "Please, allow me to show you my gratitude."_

 _"If that's the case, Chancellor, why isn't Master Obi-Wan here? I mean, he's the one who played a_ _more iconic role in your rescue."_

 _Palpatine looked thrown off for a second at that question, but regained his composure immediately._

 _"My boy, such deeds are expected from a Jedi Master of Obi-Wan Kenobi's level, and for the reward I have in mind, I'm sure it would be of no point to him. Anakin, I'm making you my personal representative on the Jedi Council.", Palpatine said with a smile._

 _Now, it was Anakin's turn to get thrown off his stride._

 _"Me? On the Council? A MASTER? Chancellor Palpatine, I'm overwhelmed. I'm not sure how to respond."_

 _What was Palpatine trying to do, currying favors like that? The Jedi would definitely not like it if he interfered in their matters, and he was sure Palpatine knew so._

 _"Oh, please, surely the Council must acknowledge your skills by now! I'm sure they would've promoted you of their own accord soon. I'm just helping speed things up.", Palpatine smiled._

 _"I thank you for this opportunity and the level of trust you've placed on me, Supreme Chancellor." Even though he sensed that Palpatine had something else up his sleeve, Anakin was positively thrilled at the possibility he'd be made a Jedi Master. Still, he'd let Obi-Wan in on this. His Master had an uncanny ability to see through most situations._

 _(Half a day later)_

 _"Allow this appointment to be taken lightly, the Council does not." Jedi Grand Master Yoda said, in his ever-so convoluted method of speech. Tongue twisters probably rolled off the 900 year old Jedi Master's tongue. Anakin wondered what would happen if the Grand Master got a lisp…_

 _He smothered a snicker and turned his focus to Master Windu, who was regarding him coolly, ever ready to bandy his own opinions about._

 _"You're on the Council, but we do not grant you the rank of Master.", Windu said._

 _That dropped Anakin's mood completely._

 _"What? Master Windu, please, I hadn't asked to be put on the Council. If you deem me not ready, just say so. Giving me a seat on the Council but not making me a Master seems a bit too harsh to me."_

 _Windu looked like he'd swallowed Bantha dung, if the way he colored was anything to go by. Apparently he didn't usually deal with juniors questioning him._

 _"If I may, Master Windu, Master Yoda. Anakin deemed it prudent to come to me with this information first, and asked me for my views on the Chancellor's actions. I'd say this is a perfect opportunity for us to turn the tables on whatever Palpatine has planned. Also, given the way Anakin has handled this situation, and going as far as to suggest he be declined a seat shows his modesty and maturity. That, along with his aptitude with the Force and his combat skills should be enough to earn him the rank of Master." Obi-Wan said._

 _Anakin turned to Obi-Wan with a look of surprise on his face. Obi-Wan had predicted exactly how the Council would react to this incident, but he hadn't mentioned a word about backing Anakin's claim to a seat up. Obi-Wan smiled at him and nodded. Apparently the old man always had a thing or two up his sleeve. Anakin quietly appreciated having being apprenticed to such a man as a Padawan, and turned to face the rest of the Council, waiting for them to react._

 _"A vote, then. To see if we deem Anakin to be ready to attain the rank of Master. Initiated." Jedi Master Ki Adi Mundi said._

 _Anakin waited for the outcome with bated breath._

 _Masters Mundi, Obi-Wan and Yoda, surprisingly, were in favor of Anakin. Masters Windu, Plo Koon, Saesee Tiin and Shaak Ti voted against, while the rest abstained._

 _Great, he'd lost out by a vote. Anakin sighed. Some of the Jedi were as conceited as he believed them to be, if not more. They refused to accept him as an equal just because of his age. Anakin shook his head and looked at Master Kenobi._

 _"I'm sorry Anakin, but it looks like you're going to_ _have to make do with just a chair, for now."_

 _Anakin cracked a half-smile and made for his seat._

XXXXXXX

This was where Palpatine had started making it obvious that he was not just who he claimed to be. Anakin was no genius, but offering him a seat on the Council to be in his good books, while making it look like all he was doing was looking out for him was too obvious a ploy for Anakin to not see through. A representative of the Republic interfering with Jedi affairs, especially Council promotions, was unheard of.

Of course, he was visibly upset at how Master Windu had handled the situation even after Obi-Wan's interjection, but still, Anakin had learned long back that everything would come to pass at the right time. Knowing the Council, he hadn't expected them to readily agree, but he was let down, nonetheless.

Of course, there was the matter of the other conversation they'd had yesterday, which made Anakin doubt if the man was as stupid as he was diabolical. Anakin raced towards his speeder and jumped in, all the while recollecting the conversation they'd had not too long ago.

XXXXXXX

 _Anakin jogged down the circular path that led to the Chancellor's observation platform in the Senate Tower. Apparently, Palpatine had requested his presence while a performance was being conducted, and wouldn't inform the Council as to why. That ruled watching the performance out, thankfully. Theater was the last thing on Anakin's mind these days. The Guards outside the door acknowledged him with a nod and motioned him through. Anakin ducked through the doorway and found himself behind the Chancellor and a few other dignitaries, who were apparently entranced with the performance going on in front of them. The attending audience was in huge numbers, and there was a smattering of applause every now and then. As Anakin walked to the front, the Chancellor turned to him with a smile._

 _"Ah, Anakin, I'm so glad you could join me!"Barely sparing his other guests a glance, he said shortly "Leave us". The dignitaries bowed out, with a couple of them obviously displeased at being sent out halfway through a 'spectacle' Anakin wouldn't pay a Hutt's most lousy servant's toenail to watch._

 _Raising a mental eyebrow to himself at the obvious play at getting privacy, Anakin seated himself next to the Chancellor, wondering what this was about._

 _"Ah, Anakin, I have some good news! The Clone intelligence department has located General Grievous to be hiding in the Utapau system. We'll make sure that fiendish droid leader doesn't escape, this time."_

 _"That's great news! Has the Jedi Council been informed regarding this? This mission's going to need a few experienced Masters to handle, considering it'd be a full-scale assault deep in the Outer Rim."_

 _Palpatine looked at him, frowning."But of course, my boy! Oh, Anakin, I'd requested the Council that you be in charge of this mission as I have full confidence in your abilities to handle it, after all. You've proved yourself to be an exemplary leader in the past, and this shouldn't pose much threat for one possessing your exemplary skills. Except, the Council deemed it prudent to deem you unworthy and not even mention it to you apparently. They've sent Master Kenobi and the 212_ _th_ _Battalion under his command to Utapau just a few hours ago. I just hope this doesn't cost us the mission. I'd pegged you to be the most qualified Jedi to lead this mission, but apparently the Masters feel differently."_

 _There he went with the flattery again. Also, the unnecessary addition of adjectives was beginning to get annoying. What was with him and trying to get Anakin to trust him more and more? There was only so much one could care for an old Senator, and he seriously hoped for a second that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine didn't swing the other way, before squashing the thought to pay attention to the man's words._

 _"After their refusal to acknowledge you as their equal, I felt they'd definitely agree with you once you completed this mission successfully. Tell me, did you not feel betrayed when the Council refused to grant you the title of Master when I requested them to do so?"_

 _"I'm sorry Chancellor, but despite your request, the power of promotion and demotion within the Jedi Order rests only with the Council. I expected them to deem me unworthy, so I wasn't let down. The Order stands for good, and the Council is it's very embodiment. I trust their judgment."_

 _As was so often happening, the Chancellor looked like he was at a loss for words. Regaining his composure, he tried again._

 _"But of course, young one. Then again, you see, "Good" is just a point of view. From anyone's standpoint, they themselves are never in the wrong. So, despite their so called selflessness, I'm sure most of the galaxy doesn't approve of them."_

" ** _What?_** _Anakin mentally exploded. Was he admitting to being at odds with the Jedi Order? Him, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic? Anakin decided to hear him out. Apparently the senile old fool would keep on spewing if he felt Anakin agreed with him. It'd be easier for him to make out what the Chancellor was getting at, too. Apparently it wasn't about the Chancellor's choice of bed-time partners after all._

 _"I see your point, Chancellor. Truly, you're every bit as wise as I'd made you out to be." Anakin said, layering his speech with loose flattery that he knew all Senators were suckers for._

 _"Thank you, Anakin. You see, the universal rule is that all those who attain power are afraid to lose it. Even the Jedi."_

 ** _"Talk about stating the obvious"_** _, Anakin said to himself. He knew that to be the very reason the Council was against him getting promoted to their level. Anakin let the Chancellor continue._

 _"Let me tell you a story, young one. Have you ever heard of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"_

 _Anakin shrugged. Mentally, he tried remembering if he had ever come across the name in the Archives. No, it didn't seem familiar._

 _"I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend." Well, Sith tales never made for very captivating stories. They were just gruesome and were best left forgotten. And here was this man, bandying one such tale about like it was no big deal. Also, how did a seemingly straightforward politician from Naboo get to know about it? Something was out of place here_

 _"Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the Midichlorians to create.." Here, Palpatine turned (oh-so-obviously) to face him_

 _"..Life."_

 _Anakin had another hit-by-a-Starship-exiting-Hyperspace moment. Was this man blatantly admitting to know of a person who was probably responsible for his creation? There seemed to be no other explanation for the fact that HE was being told this very story. And of course, the very blatant head turn was no suggestion at all. Anakin's mind reeled at the revelation. He schooled his expression, trying to glean more of the other man's motives._

 _"He had such a knowledge of the Dark Side, that he could even keep the ones he cared about, from dying." Anakin felt like the Starship had turned around and re-entered Hyperspace with him in it's trajectory. Why was this man revealing such information to him, right when he'd started getting dreams of Padme? Dreams of Padme... dying. No, this was no happenstance. This man was manipulating him somehow. Was the idiot Force-sensitive? And what kind of "mastermind" admitted stuff like this to his victim's face?_

 _Anakin knew he had to get to the bottom of this. How would the Chancellor react if he seemed curious about this ability?_

 _"From dying? That's...amazing. Is it possible, to learn this power?"_

 _Palpatine, yet again, went for the dramatic head-turn._

 _"Not from a Jedi."_

 _"Okay, that makes sense. A person not dying at all is against the laws of Nature and is morally wrong. Anyway, what happened to that Dark Lord?"_

 _"Oh, just like I said, he grew powerful, extremely so, but again was terribly afraid of losing it, which he eventually did. His apprentice learned everything from him and then killed him in his sleep. How ironic. He could save the ones he cared about from dying, but not himself." Palpatine chuckled to himself at that._

 _That did it. Apprentice? Killed him in his sleep? Why did this feel like a personal account of events? Anakin's attunement to the Force subconsciously pointed out irregularities to him, which he found, well, irregular. It was completely out of place for the Supreme Chancellor to know about Sith Legends and talk about them to only one Jedi who might even be possibly linked to it. What was this man getting at?_

 _"So, this power to keep people from dying is lost?" Anakin queried._

 _"Young one, you see, my mentor was very well versed with the ways of the Force, even the Dark Side. With his knowledge passed on to me, I'm sure if you and me worked together, we could find and attain this power, once again. Use my knowledge, Anakin. We could recover the power to save people. The power to save the one you love from dying."_

 _Seriously, ominous laughter and lightning in the background would not be out of place, given the man's revelation. He'd all but admitted that he was Sith, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that his well-versed mentor was the very same Darth Plagueis. Anakin had to react to this in a way that wouldn't give away the fact that he suspected him. He'd have to be tactful about this. Also, he had to tell the Council, or preferably, Obi-Wan. Crap, why was the man halfway across the Galaxy when he needed him? Anakin hoped he didn't get skewered by one of the Cyborg's multiple lightsabers._

 _Well, the Council would have to decide on how to deal with this situation, then._

 _All the while the man had been talking, Anakin had felt subtle prods at his consciousness, trying to get him to agree with whatever was being said. If Anakin had been any less attuned to the Force, it might've worked, but the Chosen One just disregarded them without sparing much thought. So, those were nudges in the Force that this man was employing to get Anakin to agree with him. Well, he'd show him that he was not one to be trifled with, and he wasn't going to be anyone's pawn._

 _Schooling his expression into one of disbelief, Anakin reacted as he expected any unsuspecting being would._

 _"H-How? How d-do you know about that?"_

 _"My boy, haven't I always looked after you? I can always tell when there's something bothering you. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People? I would hate for you to experience something like that again.."._

 _Palpatine was now gazing upon him with an intense expression. The intensity of the mental nudges increased, and Anakin felt like a blanket hat been draped over his consciousness, sapping his ability to think clearly. Damn it, this man was powerful and all the more dangerous because of it. Barely anyone had any visible effect on mind controlling Anakin, and he was almost immune to Force suggestions. This man had to be extremely adept at using the Force to be able to have a perceivable effect on him._

 _Anakin drew in on the living Force around him and used it to clear his head. The energy that emanated from the multitude of beings thoroughly enjoying the show did help clear the fog in his mind. Palpatine seemed to realize that Anakin was aware of something affecting his cognition and immediately withdrew his telepathy probe._

 _Anakin smiled inwardly as he felt Palpatine's presence retreat. Only the weak-minded were prone to mind control, and he was anything but that._

 _As his mind cleared, Anakin became aware of yet another possibility. What if the reason he'd been having these dreams was because of Palpatine's doing? After all, he'd told him everything about why he went to Tatooine and what had transpired there. The Chancellor knew his weakness was those he held close to him, so it would be very easy for him to convince Anakin to turn, if he were to undergo the very same circumstances that had led to his mother's death yet again. Anakin would seek out power, and Palpatine would gladly offer it, in return for his turning to the Dark Side. He deemed that to be very likely, as the doctors that had given Padme a once through on his request proclaimed both her and the child she was carrying to be completely healthy. So, was this man responsible for the apparently baseless fear that Anakin had been living in, because of some dreams? It wouldn't surprise him, given how vile the man was. Wait, then, what if he'd in some way influenced the Council to send Obi-Wan on this apparently suicidal solo mission? If his line of thought was true, then this man had fooled the Council for so many years after all. Given that his old Master was the only one Anakin trusted completely wasn't a secret, getting someone so influential out of the way while dirt-facing the Council killed two targets with a single cycler-rifle shot._

 _Anger boiled up inside Anakin, and he pushed it down, lest it show in the living Force around him and give his charade away. Chancellor Palpatine was evil, and he had to be put down. The entire galaxy was at stake here, after all. The Sith may just be a Jedi problem, but there was one truth he'd come to realize._

 _Without the Jedi, there could be no balance. The galaxy would be thrown into turmoil if something were to happen to the Order. The thousands of star systems, and not just the ones under the Republic banner would be left under the singular control of a maniac who had conveniently managed to get himself Emergency powers that almost made him a dictator. He had to act soon, and sort this out._

 _Anakin put his face in his hands, putting on the act of one in confusion and contemplation. He then looked up after a minute, and slowly moved to look at the Chancellor's expectant face._

 _"I-I need time to think this through, Supreme Chancellor. You've always been there for me in the past, and I have no doubt you have my best interests at heart right now. Still, it is too much for me to comprehend immediately, and I need to think it through.."_

 _"Of course, Anakin. You are wise and powerful, and I'm sure you'd see the benefit of this in no time. With you by my side, we would usher in a new Era of peace and prosperity in the Republic."_

 _"Thank you, Your Excellency. I would like to take my leave, right now. I shall correspond with you as soon as I have had time to mull things over."_

 _"Of course, my child." Palpatine said, with a smile playing on his lips._

 _Anakin quickly ducked out of the chamber and made his way back to the Senate's exterior, where he'd left his speeder. Forget needing time to mull things over, he was heading over to the Council chambers to report the fool immediately._

XXXXXXX

Anakin's speeder weaved through oncoming traffic deftly, as he sped towards the Senate tower, where Windu and the other Masters were headed. The sun was setting in this part of the city-wide planet, slowly plunging the city into darkness. Noting this, Anakin fervently hoped there was no metaphorical implication behind it.

The entire Galaxy's fate rested on his shoulders apparently, and acting quickly and decisively was the only way to prevent the weight from squashing him flat. He had to do this, for himself, Obi-Wan, Padme and his unborn child. Prophecy or not, the Chosen One would bring balance to the Force.


	3. A Supreme Skirmish

**AN 1: Well, here goes another. Slightly longer, and I hope it makes up for last week. Seriously though, all it took me was one night of inspired writing to complete.**

 **Dark Side Cookies to my beta anand891996 for any minor grammatical errors.**

 **Also, next chapter's gonna be slightly different from the ones I've written till now. Well, you'll see. Plus, this chapter has the last major narration flashback.**

 **Thank you all for the positive inputs I've received. Seriously, it's what makes me want to write more. I love reviews, so keep them comin'!**

 **Enjoy, and once again May the Force help y'all kick some butt.**

Chapter 3

 **A Supreme Skirmish**

Anakin was glad for the fact that the Jedi were more-or-less exempt from traffic laws, because he was sure he'd have an entire unit of the Coruscant Guard Task Force on his back, given the way he was driving, or well, flying. He flew like he had a bunch of Separatist starfighters on his tail. It almost made him look back upon the Boonta Eve Classic speeder race as a pleasure ride.

He only hoped he got to Master Windu before tragedy struck. Even if he was a Jedi Master, he had no idea about the deep poo-doo he was in. (That phrase was probably the only thing remotely Dug-related he could tolerate.)

XXXXXXX

 _Anakin leaped out of his speeder even before it came to a full halt in the Jedi Temple Hangar. He had to find a Councilor and he had to find one fast. They had to know what he'd learnt about the Supreme Chancellor, and he hoped they'd act in a manner expected from the representatives of an Order that stood for wisdom._

 _If Anakin's extremely plausible suspicions were true, that would mean that Palpatine was not just a Sith, but also a very powerful one at that. He'd literally been sitting under the Council's noses for years together and no one had been able to sense any form of disturbance in the Force. Apparently the Dark Side did cloud everything, but Anakin was starting to get a clearer picture. The cloud was lifting._

 _He'd barely reached the Hangar doors that lead to the Temple when the opened with a pneumatic hiss. He was surprised and for once, pleasantly so, to see Masters Windu, Fisto, Tiin and Kolar walk through._

" ** _Woah, Four Councilors right when I need them."_** _He paused and frowned, trying to equate his luck into the picture._

" ** _I have a bad feeling about this..."_**

 _Master Windu furrowed his brows on seeing Anakin there, and asked "Well, Skywalker, did you glean anything out of your meeting with the Chancellor? What did he want?"_

" _Masters, I've just learnt a terrible truth. If my suspicions are true, I think Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord that we've been looking for. He's literally been orchestrating the war by controlling both sides, and he definitely doesn't look like he's the 'Live and let live' type, when it comes to the Jedi Order."_

" _A Sith Lord? That's a serious accusation, Young One."_

" _He knows the ways of the Force, even the Dark Side. Hell, he was even spouting Sith Legends like they're bedtime stories."_

 _Anakin recounted his interaction with that Sleemo, while all of them listened on intently with varying degrees of palpable tension on their faces. Windu always had a brooding look on his face, but this was nothing compared to anything he'd seen before. Whatever happened to Jedi being detached and expressionless?_

" _This is serious. If what you're saying is true, then our worst fears have been realized. We just got news that Master Kenobi has engaged Grievous on Utapau, and were going to make sure that the Supreme Chancellor intends to give up his emergency powers once this situation is handled, but I don't think that's likely now." Looking at the other Masters, he said "We better be prepared for a fight. It's not going to be easy."_

 _Turning, they all made to leave for a transport._

" _Master, please, let me come with you. Given how long he's managed to stay at his deception, he's likely to be extremely powerful. We might not be on even terms on a lot of things, but I do have the Order's best interests at heart. Also, my impossibly high Midichlorian count doesn't hurt either." Anakin interjected._

" _Anakin, I sense a lot of emotions leaking out of you. I don't know if you're emotionally stable enough to handle this. The four of us are Masters and also on the Council. Given our strengths and experience, it shouldn't be too hard for us to handle. For your own good, stay out of this."_

 _Anakin was stupefied with anger. He had to be a part of this and see this through. He wanted the oppression of the Sith to end way more than any other Jedi, because of his attachments. There was no way he would sit around, twiddling his thumbs while he let someone else handle this situation. The curiosity as to the outcome of said battle alone would eat him alive. If they failed…_

 _No, he could not let that happen. Anakin grimaced and took a deep breath. He schooled his expression into a calm one and looked Windu in the eye._

" _With all due respect, Master, but none of you have even faced a Sith in combat. Your experience may not even count in this battle. I can do this, and I swear it on my life that I have the Jedi Order's survival as my highest priority right now." Anakin said, while he inwardly thought_ ** _Right below my family and Obi-Wan's survival, of course."_**

" _No. That's my final word. Go back to the Council Chamber and wait for our word. If what you've discovered is true, then you will have earned my trust. But, till I return, you're to stay there. We will handle this."_

 _At this, Windu just turned and left, not even letting Anakin get an argument in edgeways, and went to find a trooper to pilot a Gunship to the Senate Tower._

 _Anakin was visibly angered. He scowled at Windu's retreating back and made his way to the Council Chamber, all the way musing about this entire situation. There was still some element he was still missing and he hoped to the Force that it wouldn't cost the Galaxy a huge price._

XXXXXXX

Anakin ran up the stairwell to the Chancellor's office as fast as he could. There was tension in the air and even ripples in the Force that anyone with a single midichlorian could feel, emanating from the upper floors. Anakin had no doubt where the origin of the disturbance was, so he had to make his next move quick.

The Galactic Senate frequently voted on issues pertaining to the Grand Army of the Republic and the Clone Wars, the outcome of which had to be immediately exercised. To this end, the GAR had a liaison office in the Senate Tower which acted as a means of communication with the Army engaged in various skirmishes around the Galaxy and the conceited politicians seated in comfortably cushioned pods, who thought they knew what war was.

This very Liaison office was Anakin's intermediate destination.

The Grand Army of the Republic constituted of Clones, all of whom were bred to obey orders, especially contingency ones. Now that the entire tirade with ARC Trooper Fives made sense, Anakin had no doubt that orders, especially Contingency Orders overrode each Clone's programming, forcing them to follow the order, irrespective of their situation. When the Jedi had taken control of the various battalions of the GAR, they had made sure they got well acquainted with their teams, but almost all of them had let go of their paranoia when they found out that the army was for the Republic. Anakin was one of the few remaining ones who had bothered to research a bit on the difference between the Clones bred for the army and a normal human. During this process, he had come across a list of the various Contingency Orders that were programmed into the Clones.

There were a total of 150 Contingency Orders, amongst which the orders numbered 65 and 66 had caught his attention.

 _Order 65: "In the event of either (i) a majority in the Senate declaring the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) to be unfit to issue orders, or (ii) the Security Council declaring him or her to be unfit to issue orders, and an authenticated order being received by the GAR, commanders shall be authorized to detain the Supreme Commander, with lethal force if necessary, and command of the GAR shall fall to the acting Chancellor until a successor is appointed or alternative authority identified as outlined in Section 6 (iv)."_

 _Order 66: "In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly form the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commander will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established."_

Order 66, the Chancellor going for emergency powers to "tide the Republic over the war" and the extremely lengthy procedure to execute Order 65 now made sense. Anakin had a feeling this was what the Chancellor's plan had been, all along, and Anakin's hunches were never off.

He ran down the corridor of the Senate's penultimate floor's ring, until he reached the office. The doors opened with a hiss and Anakin strode in, taking in the scene. Apparently today was inspection day, as a unit of the official Coruscant Guard, in their iconic red-painted armor, was also here. He spotted Commander Fox's helmet amongst them.

All clone troopers in the room looked up and snapped into attention when they recognized who exactly it was that had walked in.

"Good evening Troopers. Commander Fox, I need your help and it is of utmost urgency. I authorize you to activate recording on all cameras in the Chancellor's office, and also bring up the Security Council. I need them to authorize the execution of Contingency Order 65. I believe the Supreme Chancellor is not who he says he is, and is the one orchestrating this war from both sides. He is a Sith Lord, the very same we believe in command of the Separatist Forces."

"What?! Master Jedi, those are very serious accusations against the Supreme Commander of the Grand Army. I hope you're not basing this off your hunches." Fox replied cautiously.

"No, I'm not. That's why I ordered you to start recording the happenings in the Chancellor's office, and I suggest you get to it immediately."

Fox looked at the Troopers at the console and nodded at him. One of them pinged the various holocommunicator frequencies of the members of the Security Council, while the other got to work on the cameras.

"Bringing up the live feed now."

The scene that unfolded on the screen shocked every single occupant of the room, given the audible sharp intakes of breath around the room.

Not too surprising, as none of them had ever seen or imagined the Supreme Chancellor cackle in glee like a maniac, whirl a crimson saber through an unfortunate Jedi's head or shoot bolts of lightning out of his fingers, only for them to be stopped by Master Windu's purple saber. Two of the Jedi were dead or severely injured and Masters Fisto and Windu seemed to be hard-pressed to keep up with him.

Anakin knew he had to act and act fast. He turned to Commander Fox and spoke to him directly.

"Fox. I don't **care** what the Security Council is up to. You get them a channel with a live feed of this, and **get them to execute order 65**. Given that we do not know if the current Acting Chancellor is involved in this scheme or not, I will be taking direct control of the Army until this issue is resolved. Meanwhile, I will try and get some answers from that maniac. Also, get a priority channel to Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the 212th on Utapau, and **get the** **Contingency Order out to them first!** It is imperative that I head up there and prevent that scum from killing the others and sending the entire Galaxy spinning into turmoil. **Do not waste time.** "

Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard never had any issues with following morally sound orders, no matter who they might be against. His sense of justice was unerring and he had a reputation amongst criminals in the Coruscant underworld, that made them think twice before messing with anything under his area of jurisdiction. In this case, that human part of Fox convinced him it was the right thing to do, irrespective of the fact that a Jedi could not initiate Order 65.

He called out to Anakin as he ran out, and said "Master Jedi, the order **will** go out, irrespective of how long it takes. How soon, just depends on the events that unfold on the screen."

Anakin smiled inwardly as he ran to the stairwell again. Clones were seriously so much superior to those clankers. Imagining himself arguing with one of those while they spouted "Roger, Roger" itself was infuriating enough to make him want to kill the Chancellor.

Still, he'd have to play this carefully, if he wanted that fool to divulge more.

Not two minutes later, Anakin burst through the doors leading to the Chancellor's office, and did a double take at the proceedings unfolding before his eyes. Windu and Palpatine were engaged in a furious lightsaber duel, while Master Fisto was kneeling and clutching his side, across the room.

The Chancellor noticed him enter, and suddenly, his lightsaber form got noticably sloppier.

" _That was barely a distraction. Not even the weakest Padawan would lose focus this quick."_

Windu kept thrusting his saber forward, frowning at the sudden lack of combative pressure from his opponent. He had not expected that, but he would not let go of any openings he got. This man had proven himself to be far stronger than Windu could have ever anticipated. Within a matter of seconds, Windu had pushed the Sith back up to the ceiling-to-floor window that looked over the Coruscant skyline. A single strike from one of their sabers shattered the window completely. Windu pressed on and surprisingly managed to disarm Palpatine in two moves. The Sith stumbled backward and fell on his rear, with an expression that was supposed to depict hopelessness, but was comically fake.

Anakin mentally facepalmed as he understood what was happening.

" _Master of deception, 3PO's foot."_

Palpatine struggled upward to regain his footing and turned to him. "I knew it Anakin! It was as I feared! The Jedi are plotting to gain more power and take over the Republic! Help me! I'm too weak, I cannot fend off this murderer on my own! Please! You will have all the power you want, just strike him down!"

"NO! Don't listen to him Anakin. This man is pure evil, and it's just like you suspected. We need to finish him here, once and for all!" Windu yelled.

"You can't let him do that! Anakin, save me, I'm powerless against this madman!"

Palpatine looked at Anakin with, ironically, hope, that his plans would come to fruition, and Anakin would spring into action. He was extremely taken aback when all Anakin did was tilt his head and raise an eyebrow.

"Tell me, how do you intend to help me gain power if you can't even beat one lousy Jedi Master at combat?"

Palpatine stumbled at that.

Another memory suddenly surfaced in Anakin's mind. Ever since he'd walked into the room and seen Palpatine duel Windu, something was nagging him at the back of his mind, and he just realized what it was. When Anakin had just started his Padawan training under Obi-Wan, there was one particular day they had visited the Chancellor's office. Apparently the man had broken his foot while evading an assassination attempt and they were here to inquire about his health. "Jedi etiquette training" Obi-Wan had said. Even for said hairline fracture, someone as untrained as Anakin had been able to perceive that man's pain. His emotions had been obvious to anyone even barely Force-sensitive.

Coming back to the present, Anakin put forward his next question, tightening the noose further.

"Also, tell me, how does a man who was struggling to move after a fracture, not so long after I'd been inducted into the Order, suddenly seem able enough to do incredible acrobatics even with a multitude of lightsaber inflicted wounds? You're not Sheev Palpatine. I could feel that man's agony when he was in pain. Your mind and emotions are closed off to the Force completely. You think I can trust you if you keep lying to me?"

Windu, thankfully, had the sense to shut up and observe, as he realized what Anakin was trying to do.

The Sith straightened up, and his now-yellow and red tinted eyes met Anakin's.

"Well done. No one in the all of my years here has been able to garner even an inkling of the idea that I'm not who I claim to be. You're right, I'm not Sheev. Sheev was a week, incompetent fool, and all he could do was spin lies with that forked tongue of his. Spouting his ideologies all day, about how he would go on to make the Republic great again."

He dropped off the Senatorial garb he had on, revealing black and purple robes beneath, that looked very similar to the garb of a Sith Inquisitor, from the time of the ancient Sith Empire. His facial features changed subtly, and his skin sunk slightly into his skull, outlining all the sutures on his cranium. The man that stood in front of them now was nothing like the pleasant and warmth-filled man they had met on Naboo. No, this man had a malevolent nature that downright stank evil, given how the Force churned around him. Even though the man was a bumbling idiot, he was still **very** powerful.

He spoke in a deeper and much different voice.

"I am Sheev's elder brother. You have no need of my real name, only that I am now called Darth Sidious. I murdered my brother and took his place once I realized that the Chosen One was at the Jedi Temple. As for power, I was toying with him, waiting for your arrival. You see, all of my moves have been made for you. This is the entire truth. It's more than what the Jedi have ever given anyone. Join me, my apprentice and you shall have all the power that you seek. Trust me, and the entire Galaxy will be at your fee-"

Neither 'Sidious' (The Sith tended to be very dramatic with names and flairs), nor Windu expected the ball of Force that slammed into the former and smashed him into the wall behind.

"Wow, you're really as stupid as I thought. You're still trying to act convincing about caring for me, while all you want is a tool to wipe out the Jedi. Seriously, your attempts have been extremely obvious, ever since the start. The not-so-subtle nudges in the Force, the 'dreams' that I have been having, and also, your claims that the Jedi are evil. So yeah, no, I don't think I'm up for your Mission: Power Grab. Oh, and as far as your plans go, here's to that:"

Palpatine rose up slightly from the floor and spat out blood, tilting his head up to look at Anakin menacingly.

Anakin turned to look squarely at a camera, and enunciated "Execute Order 65."

At that, all hell broke loose in that office on the topmost floor of one of the most prominent structures on the Coruscant skyline.

Sidious screamed in rage, and some control of his over his powers snapped. Physical Force ripples emanated from him, as he narrowed his eyes at Windu.

"First, I'm going to to kill you and then feed your carcass to a Gundark. And you,", here he gestured at Anakin, "I will shatter your mind and forcefully make you my slave. You are mistaken if you believe you have won anything here."

Master Fisto had neatly succumbed to unconsciousness by now and hence escaped having any murder threats thrown at him.

With that, he lunged at Windu, suddenly much faster than before. The Jedi Master was forced to sink deep into the conducting loop of the Vaapad lightsaber form to fend off Sidious' saber strikes. Given that it relied on the Dark Side Force energies emanating from the enemy, that wasn't too hard. Years of experience helped too.

For all he could see, Sidious's duelling strength came purely from his speed. His strikes and form were unrefined, but he more than made up for it using his speed. This was completely discounting his abilities with the Force, which they were yet to see. Master Yoda and Anakin were much stronger opponents at pure lightsaber dueling.

Anakin leaped into battle right alongside Windu, using his Djem-So moves to prevent the Sith from exploiting any openings. Both the Jedi swung their sabers in harmony, pressing on and preventing Sidious from gaining an upper hand. They quickly managed to stall his advance, and the furious rate at which they were exchanging blows shredded walls and furniture alike.

Windu felt the grudging respect he'd had for the boy turn into actual appreciation. His skills were brilliant, and he did apparently have the right mindset. He did not let himself get swayed by emotions and made level headed decisions. He may be very unorthodox, but he was definitely as powerful as any Master out there. If they made it out of this fight alive, Windu would make sure he received that promotion. Given the power levels their opponent was exhibiting, Windu wouldn't have lasted a minute against such a furious onslaught.

Tired of the stalemate, Sidious leapt backward and pulled a piece of furniture into Anakin from behind, hurling him to the other side of the room and at the same time causing Windu to stumble and fall on to his knees. Anakin crumpled on to the floor, right next to the prone body of Fisto. Rather than move to finish off the Jedi Master, Sidious pulled out a holocommunicator from his robes and spoke into it.

"It's me. Execute Contingency Order #2. My original plans have been ruined, and we're going to cut our losses for now. Bring Ty-"

" _Contingency?!"_

A condensed ball of Force slammed into the Sith Lord, shattering the communicator and flinging him ten feet behind. Sidious coughed up more blood and looked up to see Anakin with his arm outstretched and a furious look on his face, panting at the same time. A thin trickle of blood ran down the length of his face.

"No matter, the main part of my message has been sent across. Still, for this, you both shall die here, and I promise to make it painful."

Before either party could react, a massive explosion erupted near the horizon of the Coruscant skyline, billowing up in a mushroom cloud. Without warning, the entire part of the planet-wide city Anakin could see through the shattered window was plunged into darkness, and his breath caught in his throat as he processed the implications of such a massive explosion on a fully inhabited planet.

" _The power generating station. Holy shit. H-how many people would that have-?"_

Anakin felt sick at the disastrous turn this entire confrontation had taken, but he focused himself, pushing aside his own discomfort. This man was sick, and would stoop to any act just so that he could gain power. There was no clue as to how many other contingencies the madman had made. He had to deal with the Sith, and quickly at that.

Sidious had gotten to his feet by then. Having fully known about the impending explosion, he hadn't even spared it a glance. Jamming his saber into his robes, he stretched an arm out towards each Jedi, as Dark Energies started to gather at his fingertips. The malevolence in the Force was palpable and at the same time, nauseating to anyone not adept at using the Dark Side. To Anakin, it felt like being in the presence of the entity that called itself 'The Son' on Mortis. Neither Dooku nor Ventress had an aura that was even comparable to the man in front of him. Windu retched on the floor, coughing up blood at the same time. Never having had drawn in on so much Dark energy, it had a lot of adverse effects on him, thanks to the Vaapad's conducting loop. The Dark Side energy around Sidious' hands grew and started pulsating menacingly.

" _I have a bad feeling about this."_

Going with his instinct, Anakin ducked down and threw up two of the strongest Force shields he could muster, one around him and Fisto, and the other around Windu, who was still struggling to get back on his feet, across the room. He realized he's made the right move, when powerful arcs of lightning shot out of the Sith Lords arms, decimating anything that stood in his path. It would've been impossible to block them with a saber, given how wide an area the lightning covered.

Anakin threw all his focus and concentration on maintaining the two barriers. The Force lightning was unable to get through, but Anakin had a feeling that if his shields had been even a little bit lesser effective, they all would've been fried by now. Sure, he'd seen Dooku shoot Force lightning out of his fingertips before, but this was more like a lightning storm. Brilliant arcs of lightning shot out in all directions, melting the floor, ceilings and furniture alike, all around them.

The magnitude of effort it was taking him to keep up the shields was one he had never expended before. The power of the lightning combined with the tainted Force blasting out of that...creature wracked his body with pain. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up…

"Anakin!.."

" **ANAKIN!** "

He snapped to look up and saw that Windu was on his feet, his saber raised. The Jedi Master was in a terrible condition, but there was a grim determination on his face that told Anakin why exactly that man had been the Master of the Order. He was powerful, yes, but also had extremely high willpower.

His eyes locked with Anakin's and he nodded.

In a flash, Anakin understood what Windu was going to do. His eyes widened at the realization. Windu just calmly looked at him, with the malevolent storm tearing everything to shreds around him and said clearly, "I trust you, Anakin. I believe in the Chosen One. Bring balance to the Force!"

With that, Jedi Master Mace Windu ran out of the Force barrier, with animalistic rage playing on his features. He drew as much Dark Side energy as possible, without bothering about the consequence, because he knew he was gonna die here, one way or the other. Might as well save a ray of hope and deal some damage to that Sith fool while he was at it.

Amped up by the sudden build-up of Dark Side Force inside him, Windu rushed at Sidious head on, with his saber held out defiantly against him. Drawing in on the Force so much partially allowed him to move through the storm, but the lightning still seared away at his body. Windu never missed a stride. He closed the gap between them and charged head on at the Sith. Sidious was taken aback at the fact that this man wasn't a charred husk yet, so much so that he never saw the other's saber being deftly swung upwards in an arc. The saber cut a deep gash into his chest, and sliced across his face, from the bottom right to the top left, making the man's already distasteful features horrifying to even look at.

Windu smashed into him half a second later, completely snapping off the man's control of the Storm.

At the same time, the amount of Force energy being channeled into Windu's saber, due to Vaapad and the Force Storm, caused it to shatter, and at the same time explode in the Force. A wave of pure Force energy blew out in all directions.

Not having to make up the secondary barrier, Anakin channeled all his energy into just the one around him and Fisto, hoping to ride out the wave. The wave was still powerful enough to destroy the shield once it passed over, causing Anakin to fall face-first on to the floor, unable to move even a limb.

On the other side of the room, the Force Wave threw Master Windu and 'Supreme Chancellor Palpatine' out of the window of the Senate Tower. Mace was dead before his body flew out of the window. Sidious, not so much.

Anakin's subconscious registered this moments before extreme bouts of pain wracked his body. A massive portion of the building around the chamber they were in had been destroyed, and multiple fires started out. The lightning had melted through steel beams and flooring on his floor, and going by the way everything was creaking, the entire section of the Tower was bound to collapse any time soon, but Anakin was in no state to do anything about it. Seconds later, he was rendered unconscious, unable to keep up with the exhaustion and pain his body was experiencing.

Of course, his blacking out never meant slipping into the comfortable embrace of darkness, but more of very vivid and terrifying dreams.

" _Anakin! Help me, my son! I lo-" His mother said, before her image winked out._

" _You betrayed my trust, Master. How can I ever stay with the Order now?" Ahsoka's face accused, before even that faded into the darkness._

 _Inky, dark images from his past faded in and out of view. When he felt Darth Maul's presence for the first time, when he lost an arm fighting Count Dooku, when he slaughtered the Sand Pe-_

 _A sudden_ _burst of light completely erased all the darkness, and Master Windu's voice spoke out, "_ ** _Anakin! Wake up! Fight against these visions. Remember, you are the Chosen One. I believe that you can bring balance to the Force. Live, to fight another day."_**

The presence vanished, and Anakin's eyes opened blearily. There was a fire blazing around him, and the air was hot and difficult to breathe in. The Force around him still felt tainted. He had no idea how long he had been out, or even if he was awake right now, but it couldn't be for too long, else he'd be dead.

He thought he faintly heard someone call out his name, but his head was churning, and he had no idea if he'd thought that up. His vision kept swimming in and out of focus. A second later, the voice called out again, this time much closer.

"Anakin! Where are you?"

" **Anakin!** ", once again, the voice called out.

"He-*cough*- Here...", he responded hoarsely, hoping it wasn't a dream and that the other person had heard him.

A figured came into his field of vision, but he wasn't able to focus on it's figures to make out who exactly his rescuer was. He realized that the part of the flooring he was on had actually broken off, and was hanging almost at the exterior of the building.

The figure seemed to have sighted him, and darted forward, deftly dodging falling debris. The figure came as close to him as possible and held out a hand.

"Grab on to it! I'll pull you up!", said the figure, in a definitely female voice.

Oh, what the hell. Surreal or no, dream or not, he wasn't going to give up. Mustering up as much strength as possible, he reached out with one arm, while the other wrapped itself around Fisto, who was miraculously still alive.

The figure reached forward and grasped him arm. Even this small effort seemed to prove too much, and Anakin started feeling himself slip into unconsciousness. Still, moments before he passed out, he picked up a few random details. It would be impossible for a non-Force sensitive to make it all the was here, given the state the building was in. Also, any Jedi who attempted it would be literally nauseated due to the Dark Energy still lingering in the air. So, if not a Jedi, but Force sensitive, who could his rescuer be? With the last of his remaining strength, Anakin turned his fading vision to her face as he was being hauled up.

He was out before his face could register surprise, because he recognized her, and it was a person he had not even fathomed would come to his rescue.


	4. A very Disturbed Galaxy

**A/N 1: Well, the chapter lengths seem to continuously increase, primarily because I've started to love writing, especially something related to Star Wars. I hope you enjoy this one too!**

 **Cookies to everyone who guessed the rescuer's identity right! C'mon, it was pretty obvious. :P**

 **As always, Beta credits to my Padawan anand891996. I s'pose Masters can learn a thing or two at times too. XD Also, I really wish I could claim the Force as mine, but damn you Lucas, you took it all.**

 **Keep on readin', and May the Force be ever in your favor!**

* * *

Chapter 4

 **Somewhere deep in Hyperspace, a few hours before Order 65**

Obi-Wan Kenobi waited patiently for the heap of junk he was sitting in to exit Hyperspace, while he pulled on the civilian clothes he'd brought along on top of his Jedi robes. Going in as a merchant transporting goods would definitely attract less attention when compared to a Jedi and his starfighter. His navicomputer showed that there was still about half an hour to go before he reached Utapau, which was half an hour more of twiddling his thumbs and contemplating about whether this actually was a wild Bantha chase or not. Obi-Wan tried to calm himself by drawing in on the living Force around him. The strength of said metaphysical field always seemed to surprise him. No matter which corner of the Galaxy he went to, or how fast he was traveling, it was omnipresent. The strength varied, of course, depending on the presence of other beings or objects around him, but it was always there, and it never failed to reassure him. He was a Jedi, a Peacekeeper of the Galaxy and an adept at wielding the Force. Nothing could go wrong if he trusted the will of the Force, as Master Yoda had told him, so many times.

Obi-Wan's musings were interrupted as he noticed a difference in the feelings that permeated him. Something felt off. Of course, Obi-Wan had felt weird ever since he had heard that the Chancellor himself had reported Grievous' location as discovered by Clone Intelligence, and had specifically requested for Master Kenobi to lead the mission. As far as he knew, the two of them had never exchanged words apart from pleasantries and the Chancellor going as far as to recommend him for the mission was confusing. Given what Anakin had told him about the Chancellor, the latter's 'recommendation' and the disturbance in the Force he felt, Obi-Wan realized that there was a lot he was unaware of, and all the answers lay back on Coruscant.

Well, one thing at a time. He'd have to finish this mission as fast as possible and head back to Coruscant. Fretting about everything at once wouldn't help, so he focused on getting rid of Grievous once and for all.

Diplomatic or aggressive, he wasn't called the Negotiator for no reason.

Less than a minute later, the hyperdrive shut off and the sublight engines took over. The streaks of light from various stars faded into dots and the planet of Utapau rushed up to fill his screen. Thankfully, the death trap he was in didn't explode on being given commands. Obi-Wan made for the planet's surface, noting the lack of any Separatist gunships in orbit.

This was either going to be another dead end, or a very short battle if he called for his fleet.

Guiding his starship towards the area with the highest signs of life forms, which he believed to the capital city of sorts, which was as good a place to start as any. The surface of the planet was pockmarked with sinkholes, and his destination was inside one of the biggest he had ever seen.

" _They could fit gunships down there, given the size of some of the holes.",_ He thought to himself.

A message pinged his navicomputer, giving him the necessary trajectory to follow and the landing pad allocated to him. A few minutes later, the Starship came to a standstill at the allocated pad, and he stepped out, surprised to see that he had visitors, who, given their clothing, were probably dignitaries. So, Cody had managed to get a word out to them. As he himself had received no message telling him that the target was absent, Obi-Wan realized that he was in the right place, and that the Clone Army wasn't too far out.

Employing his usual Jedi demeanor, he bowed to the one in lead.

"Welcome, Master Jedi. We were contacted securely by your Clone Commander and told about your arrival. As far as the Separatists go, they think you're trading goods here."

"Thank you, and that is indeed a relief to here. Without further delay, if you tell me where Grievous is, we can get the mission underway immediately."

The lead Pau'an leaned in.

"The upper levels. He's here himself and has an army of droids with him. We're being held hostage. Will you help us, Master Jedi?"

"Wouldn't be much of a Peacekeeper if I refused, now would I?"

Obi-Wan mentally frowned at his own statement. Apparently staying in Anakin's company affected everyone, and he, the Jedi Master associated with civility and a calm demeanor was sassing people asking him for help.

Clearing his throat, Obi-Wan said, "Get your civilians to safety. The Republic Army and I will handle this. Do not worry, you will have your planet back in no time.", with a smile.

Reassured, the Pau'ans bowed and made their way out of the landing pad, while Obi-Wan ordered his astromech to wait for the starship to get refuelled and then head back out to the planet's orbit. He then switched on the 'Commence attack' beacon he'd been provided with, which sent an alert to Commander Cody and the 212th Attack Batallion. If all went well, the war would be brought to a close after this. Turning, after ensuring that there was no one watching him, he made his way to the nearest stairwell. He had to find and engage Grievous before the fleet arrived, lest the Cyborg Coward decided to flee again.

Obi-Wan climbed up into the rafters, once he reached the floor where Grievous apparently was. He moved in the general direction from where a certain robotic/human voice and a lot of yelling and coughing ensued. Even droids weren't immune to the flu, apparently. _"_ _Not that Grievous would appreciate that joke"_ , he snickered to himself. Reaching a point above the general proceeding below, where Grievous was having a shouting match with a few head members of the Separatist Alliance, Obi-Wan took off all his civilian clothes and crouched down to observe. Apparently Grievous' enhanced voice-box had won out in the end, as the others looked very flustered and angry. They curtly nodded to him and made to exit the room, but that was as far as they got before a massive ventilation pipe collapsed on top of them.

" _Well, it wouldn't be okay to just let them walk right out, now would it?"_ , Obi-Wan said to himself.

Grievous did a double take at that, and looked up to see a figure jump off the rafters and land in front of him. His eyes narrowed as they took in the Jedi robes the person was clad in, and he positively growled when he recognized the figure, as he looked up with a smile.

"General Kenobi. Well, aren't you a bold one?", he said, activating the emergency alarm on his wrist, summoning all droids to his location. He motioned to the Magnaguards behind him to take on the Jedi, while he intended to make for his personal ship to escape the planet. He had no idea if the Jedi was alone, but he doubted the Clone Army was too far out, even if not already here.

The four Magnaguards took a step forward menacingly, and simultaneously, four high powered blaster shots shattered their chassis from behind. Grievous turned around at that, and saw the very same Clone Army he was wondering about leap into action. The droid army immediately moved off to engage the clones, leaving a very pissed off Cyborg and a very content Jedi Master behind. Growling to himself in rage, Grievous turned to face Obi-Wan. He did not like the way things were proceeding. Well, he'd at least get rid of that annoyingly persistent Jedi, even if not win the war.

"Army or not, you must realize, you are doomed.", Grievous said, menacingly, hoping to unnerve his opponent. Obi-Wan just calmly detached and ignited his lightsaber, pointing it's glowing tip at Grevious and said, "Your move?"

Grevious detached his four robotic limbs, each sporting an ignited lightsaber.

"You fool! I have been trained in your Jedi arts by Count Dooku! You will **not** leave here alive.", he sneered.

Obi-Wan merely sighed. Trash talk aside, he knew he just had to stay away from Grievous' various limbs, for which he had the perfect weapon in his arsenal: the Force.

"Well then, let's recount how droids fare against Jedi, shall we?" he said.

Grievous once again snapped, roared menacingly and charged at Obi-Wan like a madman.

" _How predictable."_ Obi-Wan thought to himself, as he prepared a Force Burst in his right hand.

 _ ***A short battle full of robotic screaming, indignation, dismemberment and disbelief later***_

Obi-Wan looked down at Grievous' charred remains beneath the cybernetics. All it had taken was a blaster bolt to set his innards on fire, and the Droid General was toast. Literally.

Tossing the blaster he held aside, he muttered to himself, "So uncivilized."

He then turned and made his way towards the exterior of the Hangar bay, where he had seen Cody directing troops from, earlier on, all the while slashing his saber at any droid that walked too close or dared to take a potshot at him. Reaching Cody's position, he asked "What's the situation like? Did you secure those Separatist leaders I'd left for you under that pipe yet?"

"Yes, Sir! They're currently being transported back to your Jedi Cruiser, although I suspect they're going to be out of it for a while, given the size of the lumps on their head. Good job, Sir!"

"Thank you, Cody. Now, let's get a move on! We've a battle to-"

Obi-Wan's sentence was cut short as a sudden shift in the Force around him left him gasping for breath. Something drastic was underway, and it felt ominous. Cody made to grab his shoulder, and Obi-Wan righted himself, his head throbbing due to the turmoil the Force was undergoing. He had never felt this way, and the disturbance felt widespread. It was definitely not due to something nearby.

" _Coruscant.. Anakin.. What the hell is going on?"_

His attention shifted to Cody a second later, as the man made to receive a holocall. Cody hit receive, and surprisingly, it was Anakin's hologram, or at least, a recording of it.

Enunciating clearly, he said "Execute Order 65", leaving Obi-Wan to wonder exactly what in the name of the Force had transpired while he was in Hyperspace. Cody, similarly was taken aback, but a cross check confirmed the Contingency Order to be legitimate and backed by the Republic's Security Council. Shrugging to Obi-Wan, he relayed the order to the rest of his unit.

Obi-Wan simply shook his head in perplexion and said, "Cody, let's get this over and done with as soon as possible. We need to head back to Coruscant immediately."

"Sir, yes sir!"

* * *

 **(Kashyyyk; Around the same time)**

Jedi Grand Master Yoda clutched his chest painfully as he felt the shift in the Force. Due to his extremely high Midichlorian count, he was almost rendered breathless when the disturbance hit. Something monumental had transpired, and drawing in on the Force, he could tell it came from somewhere deeper in the Galaxy, which most likely meant Coruscant.

Commander Gree stood up next to him and pulled out his pinging holocomm, while Yoda watched on, warily. If this was a trap, he was not going to be caught in it. He was, however, bewildered when Anakin Skywalker's hologram materialized and commanded for execution of Contingency Order 65.

Shaking his head, Yoda made to take a look at the holovid displaying the current scene of battle. Heading back to Coruscant had just gained higher priority, as he had no idea as to the state the Order was in. He made Gree connect him via holocall to the Jedi Council chambers, and upon getting not a single reply, he requested him to find out about the situation in Coruscant.

Still, despite the Force throwing out negative emotions, Yoda couldn't shake the feeling that something far worse had been averted. And usually, his feelings were never off.

* * *

 **(Cato Neimoidia; Around the same time)**

Jedi Master Plo Koon and his squadron of starfighters were making easy work of the Droid Starfighters, nimbly weaving between buildings and enemy ships. Having a Jedi lead in such battles certainly made it easier, especially when coupled with their battle precognition ability. The droid army would be in full retreat shortly, given the rate at which the GAR was advancing.

Master Koon dismissed the tension he felt in the air to battle nerves, and focused himself on taking down the remainder of the droid aerial force. It was definitely easy work.

He did, however, almost spit his breather out when Captain Jag told him that Anakin Skywalker had issued Order 65, and that he was currently the Acting Commander of the GAR.

" _What on Dorin-?"_

* * *

 **(Market District, Coruscant; About half an hour before Order 65 was issued)**

A hooded figure made it's way through the busy streets of Coruscant's Market District, while threading it's way towards the Senate Tower. The disturbance in the Force was strong throughout the planet, and it was even affecting the non-Force sensitives. Everyone felt uneasy and multiple fights broke out all around for the smallest of reasons. The other Jedi wondered what in Revan's name was so wrong to have affected the multitude of citizens throughout the city, but the hooded figure in question knew exactly what was wrong, and where it was going on.

Her connection in the Force with her Master had never really broken off, and she could sense his emotions when she tried, or without trying if they were very strong. Right now, his emotions were almost being broadcast across their empathy link. Something was very wrong, as this was on a different scale from all previous times she'd felt him get angry or concerned.

" _Damn it, Skyguy. What have you gotten yourself into this time?"_ , Ahsoka Tano said to herself, as she broke into a jog, trying to get to the Senate Tower faster, her hood keeping her face covered in shadows. She wondered where Padme was and if she was alright.

The closer she got to the Senate Tower, the more the disturbance amplified. She could almost feel the ripples in the Force, and it's epicentre, doubtless, was the Senate Tower. Ahsoka paused to catch her breath as the tower in question came into view as she took a turn, exiting the Market District.

No matter how many times she'd been here, the massive size of the building always took her breath away. The sheer scale of the building and the number of people it could house always astounded her.

This time, though, it was not bustling with Senators trying to get in and out of the building. An entire battalion of Clones were trying to evacuate the building, and were escorting everyone out. Many clone officers were yelling out orders and Ahsoka could barely grasp what was being said, given the noise all around her.

"Trooper, get a-"

"Order 65 ha-"

"Sir, you have to get away from th-"

" _Order 65? What's going on? Why is there an evac-?"_ Ahsoka's thoughts were interrupted mid-sentence as her Force precognition warned her of impeding danger.

There was a collective gasp and some more screaming when a massive explosion erupted in the distance, and the entire part of the city she could see was plunged into darkness. A mushroom cloud billowed out, and the shockwave followed, knocking a few bystanders to the floor.

" _Even though the blast was so far away... Oh no, the power stations. This is insane!"_ Ahsoka thought, wide-eyed.

She turned to face the Senate tower.

Her eyes widened further, and she took an involuntary step back, when a sudden massive bout of lightning wrecked the topmost floor, from the inside.

" _From the inside? That's too big to be an electrical fault. And it's almost like the tendrils of lightning are alive in the Force.. I can feel it all the way over here. Damn it, I have to get inside and find Anakin."_

Ahsoka looked around, trying to find a way in. A lot of senators were shouting in fear, looking at the fireworks display emanating from the tower, while the troopers tried to get them to calm down, and prevented them from stampeding. She decided to make use of the ensuing chaos to slip in and try and find Anakin.

Given his luck with finding troubles, Ahsoka was sure he was right at the top where the lightning still emanated from. She strode forward, deftly moving between troopers and senators alike before she reached the very front of the crowd. Moving to make a dash for the Tower entrance, she took a step forward, but an armored hand blocked her way. She looked up right into the visor of Commander Fox's Phase-II helmet.

"Commander…Tano? What are you-? No, never mind. Commander Skywalker is inside, and at the topmost floor. Us Clones are unable to even go close to the place where he's fighting the Sith. Please go help him out! I'm not sure as to what state he's in. Emergency power has been re-instated in the tower."

"Sith? **WHAT?** Okay, that explains the lightning, but, **not** good.", Ahsoka said, as she sped towards the doors, using the Force to augment her speed.

 ***A few terse minutes of running up stairwells and taking working elevators later***

Ahsoka panted as she reached the Chancellor's office, or what remained of it and took in her surroundings. The lightning had apparently been strong enough to melt through durasteel and had started quite a few fires. The air felt...tainted, and it was not just because of the heat or the dust. The Force itself was in turmoil, as if something had tried to tear it to shreds. There was no sound of any fighting, just the elecrticity sparking from wirings, the crackling of fires and some falling debris.

Still, catiously, she called out her Master's name. No answer. Ahsoka moved towards the interior of the once-prestigious office room.

Not seeing anyone present, she threw all caution to the wind, wondering what happened to her Master.

"Anakin!" " **ANAKIN!"**

A faint cough reached her ear, and she located it to be coming from near the exterior of the building. The entire section of the wall had been torn apart, and this floor had caved in on to the one below, almost hanging at the exterior. She deftly dodged falling debris and missing patches of the floor and ran to the edge.

Two figures lay prone on the caved in section of the floor, not too far away from her, one of whom she recognized as her Master, and the other as the Nautolan Jedi Master on the Council. Anakin weakly lifted his head to look at her.

Relief flooded her. At least he was alive! Extending her hand, she said, "Grab on to it! I'll pull you up!".

Anakin weakly raised one arm to her, while his other arm, the cybernetic one latched itself around the unconscious Jedi Master's waist. Smiling to herself at his attempt to save another even in this condition, she pulled them both up, using the Force to augment her strength. Once she pulled them up, she realized that she was nowhere close to being big enough to carry them both. Letting them lie on the floor, she dragged them to the elevator, pulling them by their robes.

" _Sorry, Anakin. I suppose saving your life is more important than your dignity for now."_ , she smirked to herself. Once she reached the lower floors, she called a Trooper who was on duty there and together, they carried out the two unconscious Jedi out.

A medical unit was waiting outside the Tower, tending to any minor injuries the Senators or Troopers had suffered. When Ahsoka walked out with the two unconscious Jedi, they were given a wide berth and the Medics rushed to them with a stretcher. Both were fitted with respirators, and as they were still breathing, they were immediately loaded into the Medical Transport. Ahsoka climbed in behind them. Once loaded, the transport sped off towards the Jedi Temple. Jedi were always treated in the Temple's own Medical Unit, as their physiology was different compared to normal civilians, and they were more suited to Force-enhanced treatment procedures.

Ahsoka let the Medical droid tend to her wounds, which were mainly scratches and some slight burns, while she shut her eyes, and tried to reach out to her unconscious Master through the Force. Having lived with the empathy link for so long, both of them inadvertently found the other's presence comforting, and hence Anakin's jumbled up mind eased when he felt her presence. She calmed him by using the Force to bring up good memories, and soon, the Jedi Master was comfortably asleep, and not just unconscious due to his efforts.

She sighed to herself at the proceedings of the day. The shitstorm this was gonna kick up throughout the Galaxy was going to be massive. At any rate, she had to make sure Padme was okay. She was not at the Senate Tower, as Ahsoka hadn't felt her presence, so she decided to check on her at her Senatorial Suite once Anakin was in the Jedi's care. Ahsoka had known about her Master and Padme's relationship for a long time, and she was sure so did Obi-Wan, but both of them realized that Anakin was much better than the lonely and impulsive person he had been before mainly due to Padme's influence. Sure, he was still impulsive, but at least he was smart about what he did, and he did put other's thoughts before his own.

The Transport came to a halt outside the Temple's Main hall while Jedi healers ran up to the rear. Anakin and Kit Fisto were quickly unloaded and their repulsorcoil-fitted stretchers were hauled off towards the Emergency room. Ahsoka followed them, not willing to let Anakin out of her sight until he was stable again.

She looked up at the Temple's massive structure. She never thought she would be coming back here, at least not like this. She had given up the ways of the Jedi because of how they had treated her, but this place still felt like home.

As Ahsoka stood outside the emergency room, quite a few senior Jedi Knights and Masters walked in, one by one, inquiring as to the patients health and expressing surprise on seeing her there. Ahsoka was glad to see that none of them treated her like an outsider, and many of them even expressed happiness on seeing her alive and well again. Jedi Master Tera Sinube and Jedi Battlemaster Cin Drallig walked in after a while and asked the Medical Droid stationed outside for a report.

"Both of them are still in a critical condition, but they are stable. I'm sure they will make a full recovery, although Master Fisto will likely take a longer time to recuperate than Skywalker, who, as always, is exhibiting accelerated healing rates due to his unimaginably high Midichlorian count. Skywalker is expected to regain consciousness in seventy five hours, six minutes and seven seconds."

Drallig continued to ask the droid questions about their conditions, while Sinube turned to Ahsoka.

"It has been a long time, young one. I see you are doing well after leaving the Order, much better than before, in fact. Haven't lost any lightsabers since then, have you?"

"A long time indeed, Master. And no, I learnt my lesson that time.", Ahsoka said with a smile. "Master, if I may, I need to check up on a friend of mine. Can you inform me in case there are any changes in Anakin's condition?"

"Of course, my child."

Ahsoka was gone before he could even finish the sentence. She needed to make sure Padme was alright, and Anakin was in good hands, for now. Walking out of the Temple, she pressed a button on her wrist console, remotely summoning her speeder to her current location.

* * *

 **(Senatorial District, Coruscant; A few minutes before Order 65 was issued)**

Padme Amidala's brows were knitted with worry as she paced her apartment's bedroom, gazing out towards the Coruscant skyline intermittently, where she could just make out the Senate Tower amongst the throngs of other structures. According to C-3PO, her protocol droid, Anakin's astromech R2-D2 had reported that it's master had made for the very same building a while back. That was barely a cause for concern, but for the past few minutes, something felt off. Anakin's emotions were leaking through the mental link that they shared, and his worry, well, had her worried too.

" _That headstrong idiot. Always running right into trouble. He's never gonna learn, is he?"_ , she mentally sighed to herself.

She made her way towards her apartment's lobby. Ever since Anakin had found out about their child, a trooper from the 501st clone battalion under his command was always stationed near the entrance to her apartment. He absolutely refused to hear her complaints about it and so, it had continued. She was eight months pregnant now, and barely ever attended Senate hearings, unless they were of utmost importance.

Today, thankfully, Rex was the trooper stationed at her apartment. The 501st was off missions for a while, and was assigned to patrol duty on Coruscant. Captain Rex, head of Torrent Company, had taken it upon himself to be the one in charge of Padme's well-being, because he knew her personally, and also because he was the only clone Anakin trusted with his life, so much so that Rex had been told about their relationship. His deep respect for his commander showed, as he made sure Padme's apartment security was never lax, irrespective of the trooper on schedule.

Rex was currently seated near the entrance, cleaning out parts of his dual blaster pistols. His helmet lay on the ground next to him. Seeing Padme walk towards him, he holstered his blasters and snapped to his feet, helmet in hand.

"What can I do for you, Ma'am?"

"Can you find out as to what Anakin's up to? I feel uneasy, and there has been no word ever since he left for the Senate Tower."

Rex fitted his helmet on, and checked the HUD for any updates.

"There doesn't seem to be any messages from Commander Skywa-... Hang on, there's an emergency broadcast. The Senate Tower is being evacuated for some reason, and the Security Council has been called into session."

"Evacuated? Why?"

"No idea, Ma'am. I can't seem to reach the Commander on his comm frequency either. I'll ping Coruscant Guard for details. Something's not right here."

The words had barely escaped Rex's mouth when the explosion manifested itself. Given that the Senatorial district and the Power Station for their sector were on opposite sides of the Senate Tower itself, they only heard the explosion, and later saw the mushroom cloud as it billowed upwards. The shockwave had dissipated by then. The power throughout their field of vision winked out, plunging the entire durasteel landscape into darkness.

Out of sheer instinct and reflex, Rex pulled out his blasters. Most clones seemed to possess a sixth sense for danger, having spent so many years on the battlefront, and Rex's danger sense was pinging. A second later, he realized he was actually hearing the pinging sound, as an emergency high priority holomessage was being beamed to him.

Frowning, he activated his holocommunicator and a hologram of Anakin materialized. There was a sharp intake of breath from Padme as she recognized the figure.

"Execute Order 65.", he said, and the figure winked out. Apparently the Contingency Order was backed by the Security Council, and under special considerations, Anakin Skywalker had been made Acting Commander of the GAR.

"Order 65? What does that mean?"

"It means the Supreme Chancellor is a traitor, and that Commander Skywalker is somehow deeply involved. Senator, I'd ask you to change into something more suitable for moving around. If Anakin is involved, there's a chance, however unlikely, that you might be drawn into this."

Padme trusted Rex completely. She made to her bedroom, and changing from her gown into a pair of brown leggings, a full sleeved cream colored shirt and brown knee-length boots. Rex, meanwhile, checked the feed from the cameras he'd installed outside. As Padme walked out of her bedroom, Rex pulled out his holocommunicator and played the feed from the cameras.

Six figures, all armed stood at the bottom of the spire that Padme's apartment was located on.

Rex wasted no time in activating his SOS beacon, sending priority alerts to the rest of his Battalion.

"Bounty Hunter scum. Damn, this is not good. Ma'am, please stay behind me at all costs. I'm going to hold them

off till reinforcements arrived."

"I understand. How are the cameras still operational, though? The power's out."

"Last month, during the security upgrade, I had auxiliary power attached to your apartment. Thanks to that, I have a few surprises in store for them. And I'm pretty sure they aren't aware of my presence, as this assignment was off records. Please, hide yourself behind that cupboard, and don't come out, irrespective of what you hear."

Padme moved towards where Rex indicated, while the latter upended a table for cover and crouched behind it, all the while keeping an eye on the camera feed on his HUD. Two of the bounty hunters, both human and armed with blaster rifles, were in the elevator, while the remaining were running up the two stairwells. Apparently they were planning to enter at the same time and take the senator hostage by force. Well, it was a good thing that the apartment had only one entrance.

Rex had taken precautions to install multiple traps in case the senator was ever attacked. Assassination attempts on her had been many in the past. Rex activated the detonator coupled to infrared sensors at knee level on both the staircases. One group was slightly ahead of the other, consisting of a Trandoshan and another human, with the former in lead. The Trandoshan recklessly crossed the beam, and the detonator went off an instant later, blowing him to pieces. Irrespective of how thick their skulls were, Trandoshans apparently were soft from below. The human coming up behind up was thrown on his back, but he seemed unharmed, given the armor he was wearing. The survivor spoke into his communicator and the other group immediately slowed down. The human picked himself up, activated something on his visor and slowly made his way upwards, avoiding the other traps.

" _One down."_ , Rex thought to himself, and activated the trap on the elevator, just as all three groups reached the top. The elevators power simply shut off, and the emergency brakes were disabled, without which, the box plunged noiselessly down the shaft, leaving the other groups wondering as to exactly why the group in the elevator wasn't out yet.

The first Bounty Hunter to reach the top, voiced his thoughts out loud to the others, and got a blaster bolt in his head for his trouble, killing him instantly.

" _Four down, two to go. You don't mess with the GAR for exactly this reason, scum."_ , Rex smirked to himself, his pistols barrel smoking.

"Damn it! There's a Trooper in there! Take him out!", the surviving member of this team shouted. Apparently he was a Duros, given his voice, and if his weird hat was anything to go by, it was the infamous Cad Bane that Rex was dealing with. Both the Hunters had concealed themselves behind pillars and were snapping shots off intermittently. Rex crouched back behind the table and tossed a thermal detonator over. The detonator rolled to a stop between the two pillars and exploded, knocking the human into the wall behind him. The man slid to the floor, unconscious.

Cad Bane, meanwhile, on seeing the detonator, simply activated the rocket boosters on his shoes and flew in the opposite direction. The space was very limited, yes, but it helped him escape the shockwave. Holstering his blaster and using the smoke for cover he dove for the clone from mid-air. He bowled into Rex, knocking his pistols from his hand, and both of them went sprawling. Without a moment's delay, both of them got to their feet, and surveyed their opponent, poised for a fight.

Rex had faced off against this particularly nasty Duros during some of his previous missions, and had sworn to take down scum like him if he ever got the chance. Cad Bane, on the other hand, took in the blue colored armor and the shoulder pauldron, and realized he was dealing with a Captain from the 501st, if not an ARC Trooper. Having faced off against a lot of clones, he didn't recognize this particular one. Still, this was not going to be easy.

" _Stupid botched mission. The contact_ _hadn't told us there would be a trooper here!"_ , Bane thought, his eyes narrowing, as he looked around for a way to either make his escape or gain the upper hand immediately.

In that moment of distraction, Rex closed the gap between them and swung his right fist at Bane's face. Bane reacted quickly, parrying his punch and kicked out at Rex's side.

There was a reason people never engaged with Clone Troopers in hand-to-hand combat. They were bred for battle and trained by Mandalorians and were lethal in any confrontation. It was an especially bad idea when the clone in concern was a Captain and also wearing his full body Phase-II armor. Punching that would be like hitting a wall, unless you were as strong as a Wookiee, or a Force user.

Rex could've caught Bane's kick, but he just let it collide with his side. Bane grunted in pain when his kick made contact with the heavily armored plates, leaving him unbalanced and vulnerable, as his kick had not even been felt. Rex simply kicked out the other's remaining foot from under him, and the Duros fell flat on his back. Immediately resorting to his Bounty Hunting weapons, Bane shot his wrist-mounted grappling hook, which wrapped the cable trailing it around the clone's torso, snapping his arms to his side, while he activated his rocket boosters on his boot, intending to topple the clone. Rex realized exactly what was going to happen and leapt right at Bane, using the pulling momentum generated by the rocket boosters for extra thrust. He slammed his boot on to Bane's wrist, shattering the Duros' wrist and the grappling hook console, at the same time unhooking the cable. Rex unspooled the cable around him while Bane cringed and held on to his broken wrist. He awkwardly got to his feet and jumped at the clone, shoulder first. Rex simply grabbed him by the lapels of his outfit and smashed his helmeted face on to the latter, causing him to scream out in pain. Intending to finish this battle immediately, he grabbed the breathing tubes attached to the Bounty Hunter's face and heaved it towards himself, at the same time slamming his armored foot into Bane's stomach, which wrenched the tubes right out of his face and the apparatus, leaving Cad Bane screaming on the floor in agony. Even though the breathing tubes were only to prevent him for succumbing to Force Choke, having them wrenched out of his face hurt. He spat out blood and his muscles screamed from the strength of the blows the clone had dealt him. Five seconds later, he stopped yelling abruptly as Rex fired his retrieved blaster pistol into the bounty hunter's head, instantly killing him.

" _That's it? Can't see what all the fuss about him being the best bounty hunter in the galaxy was about."_

He looked around and checked his HUD for any reinforcements, except there were none. Holstering one of his blasters, he went to check up on where Padme was hiding. Irrespective of her situation, the senator hadn't made any noise throughout the battle, and Rex was glad for that. He had wanted to avoid any hostage situations.

Padme was still crouched behind the cupboard, her arms clenched around her head. Rex knelt down and placed a hand on her knee, causing her to slowly look up.

"It's safe now, Ma'am, although I think it would be prudent if we left the premises and headed for a safehouse immediately."

Rex was surprised when Padme suddenly threw her arms around him while sobbing lightly, her fear evident.

"Er-Uh-...You're safe now, Ma'am. It's over. Let's get you out of here.", Rex said, awkwardly, while slowly helping her to her feet. Padme disentangled her arms and looked at him with.

"Thank you, Rex. If it weren't for you.."

"None of that now, Ma'am. Commander Skywalker has saved my life countless times and it's the least I could do for him."

Rex held a blaster with one hand and guided Padme towards the speeder pad on her apartment with the other. Motioning her to wait, he switched on his Rangefinder and scanned the skies for any craft, friendly or otherwise. He immediately crouched and pulled out his other pistol as he noticed a speeder not registered with the GAR speed towards them, trying to focus his vision on the pilot.

" _What in the world-?"_ , he thought to himself, taken aback with confusion, as he recognized the pilot to be Ahsoka Tano, Commander Skywalker's ex-Padawan.

"Err, Senator, you might want to come out here, else you mightn't believe what I'm going to tell you."

Less than a minute later, Ahsoka parked her speeder alongside the pad and walked towards where Padme and Rex stood with widened eyes, smiling to herself. It was good to see the two of them again, after so long.

They had wanted information about where Anakin was, and she had her first-hand experience of the entire happening to recount.

* * *

 **(Jedi Prison, under the Jedi Temple on Coruscant; around the time of Order 65)**

Count Dooku, also known to a select few as the infamous Darth Tyrannus, sat in a state of contemplation in his cell. Ever since he'd regained consciousness after being humiliatingly defeated at the hands of the two Jedi aboard his Separatist cruiser, he felt like a blanket on his mind had lifted. His memories of events that transpired after he turned Sith seemed blurred to him, like he was watching the events happen through someone else's eyes, as a third person. His actions didn't feel his own, even though he knew he had done them. His memories became sharp as soon as he thought of events before he met Darth Sidious, the man posing as the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.

Dooku had spent the last couple of months pondering over the same issue. Every memory that he relived brought him to the same end, that he had been manipulated by Sidious, and not just with lies, but with the Force to bend his will too. Dooku sighed to himself. It felt like he'd let himself become a pawn.

He couldn't even reason to himself as to why exactly he had left the Jedi Order. Sure, he might have his differences, but so did everyone! There were a multitude of Jedi, even his own padawan Qui-Gon, who disagreed with some policies of the Order, but they didn't quit the Order and run away with a Sith at the first chance.

So, that was it, then. He had become a willing servant of the Dark Side just because he wasn't careful. Dooku even felt queasy when he thought back upon the various things he'd done, no, been made to do, during his time as Sidious' apprentice. He definitely didn't have the stomach to do them now. Torturing innocents, murdering at whim, trying to murder fellow Jedi, even….

" _Damn the Dark Side. It's too powerful unless you're careful enough to resist it's mind-altering effects. That madman made me a mindless servant, a pawn, of his, to be tossed aside at his own leisure. Although, I suppose, if not me, that would have been someone else, and I do not wish that ordeal upon anyone, forget a fellow Jedi."_

Dooku was surprised at his own train of thoughts. He'd felt his mind start to heal ever since he was imprisoned, but this was the first time he'd outright felt compassion towards the Jedi in a long time. He needed to have a talk with one of the Councilors, to admit what he had learnt, and the way he felt now, preferably his old Master.

" _Patience"_ , he told himself, and settled in to meditate until someone checked upon him today. He seemed to enjoy doing that more and more, of late. He felt like he was returning to being his old Jedi self.

In his meditative trance, Dooku clearly felt the disturbance in the Force when it happened, and by the looks of it, so had the other Jedi who were guarding the prison. His eyes snapped open.

" _Something's going on. That fool is back at his machinations. What the hell is he up to now?"_ , he wondered.

" _Well, not like I can do anything about it from here. I've already told the Jedi everything I know about his plans."_

And so, Dooku shut his eyes once more and tried to draw in on the Force from the nexus the Temple was built on.

Once again, his eyes snapped open, this time in disbelief. The Force nexus…

What the hell had Sidious done?

* * *

 **(Felucia; Ten minutes after the power outage on Coruscant)**

Jedi Master Aayla Secura rolled her shoulders as she and her troops moved through a heavily forested area of Felucia. The battle was almost theirs, and they had the droid army in full retreat. Aayla sensed the tiredness in the Clones even if they didn't show it. Extremely strong-willed, they all were. Commander Bly was especially determined, and that's what made him an effective leader. He instilled confidence in his troops by the way he carried himself, and sometimes, even she was in awe of the man. She smiled to herself, as she felt Bly in close proximity.

She knew Jedi were forbidden to form attachments, but still, she had found herself extremely attracted to Bly. He wasn't just a clone. The multitude of battles they'd been in together and the various life-death scenarios they'd lived through had her heart skip a beat every time her eyes met his. And no, this was definitely not just one sided, as she had seen the Commander get flustered every time she caught him staring or even when they made eye contact which lingered. Eventually, both of them had confessed their feelings for each other and even shared a few passionate moments, when time permitted. Both of them knew this had a chance to not last forever, and they accepted it as it was.

A sudden stillness in the Force brought her out of her contemplation that she was enjoying. She frowned to herself.

"It's grown quiet all of a sudden. What do you think, Bly? Droids?"

"No.", was the short and curt answer, as she turned just in time to see the man she had actually started to love, shoot her point-blank in her chest. She was dead before her body hit the ground, multiple other shots hitting her all over.

" _Bly...Why?"_ , was her last thought, as she died in disbelief.

* * *

 **(Mygeeto; Ten minutes after the power outage on Coruscant)**

Commander Bacara and his remaining clone Marines ran in after Commander Mundi, as the droids mounted another wave to assault their base. Their continuous battles on the war-torn planet were getting tiresome, and it didn't seem like it was going to stop any time soon.

Barely had Bacara taken a few steps when a voice sounded in his earpiece, unmistakably that of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.

"Execute Order 66."

Without pausing to think or actually being able to, Bacara and the rest of the Marines raised their rifles and shot Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi in the back, killing him instantly.

* * *

 **(Saluecami; Ten minutes after the power outage on Coruscant)**

Jedi Master Stass Allie raced along on a speeder, with Commander Neyo and a few more troopers under his command in tow. The planet was almost theirs, and this final recon mission would give them an all clear to return home.

Lost in her thoughts about returning back to Coruscant, Master Allie never saw the clones accept an Order, nod to each other, slow down in unison and shoot her speeder, which promptly exploded, not even giving her enough time to register her thoughts.

* * *

 **A/N 2: I know what you're thinking. Order 66, whaaaaat? Well, everything's gonna be cleared up next time, don't worry. *Ahem* Sidious' Contingency *Ahem***

 **Till then, please review if you like/don't like my work, and feel free to PM me with any queries. Next week's update might be a bit earlier, due to my travel plans.**


	5. Counseling the Council

**A/N 1: Well, here's another one. Hopefully this will clear up any doubts you had as to the last chapter. I'm already deviating a lot from EU/Canon, so after this is where my AU is going to start.**

 **I wanted to reply to this one particular reviewer.**

 **Guest: No! (What in the world is 'Yes!' supposed to mean? And that too, as a review?)**

 **Well, all in all, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter too! And seriously, REVIEW! I need to know what I'm doing right/wrong. I actually love reviews and 14 for 4 chapters is terrible. C'mon, y'all.**

 **As always, PM me for doubts/suggestions, and May the Force help you live long and prosper.**

* * *

Chapter 5

 **(Somewhere in the recesses of Anakin's mind)**

Darkness enveloped Anakin's subconscious mind in a comfortable embrace. He found the prospect of floating in nothingness peaceful, surrounded by nothing but the Force. The maelstrom of emotions and the turmoil in the Force felt so distant…

" _Ahh, peace and solitude. At last."_ , he mentally sighed to himself, being subconsciously glad at being left alone.

 ***Less than a second of gratuity later***

The darkness shattered like glass, as if a terrifying force had smashed into it, and visions barged through.

" _Damn it, I just had to go and try_ _my luck, didn't I?"_

Anakin held himself together in order to not get sucked into the tempest that now surrounded him. Images and visions tore at him from all directions, trying to tear away pieces of his mind. He knew if he let go, he would not return sane, if at all. The images all suddenly coalesced into one, and the scenery in his mind changed. Why did this feel familiar?

Anakin stood on a rock formation, surrounded by a pool of lava, as dark mist swirled around him like a storm. He felt another malevolent presence, something that shouldn't exist, somewhere behind him.

Pain wracked his mind, all of a sudden and his vision turned red. Try as he might, he couldn't tear his eyes from the scene that was playing out in front of him, in the mist.

 _A group of Padawans were huddled in the centre of the Jedi Council chamber, as a figure strode in through the door. The children looked up at the figure with hope, only for it to turn into fear as a blue lightsaber flared into existence in the figure's hand...no, the figure's cybernetic hand._

" _ **That hilt...".**_ _The saber fell towards the Padawan at the front, and the image shifted._

 _Hundreds of dead Jedi bodies littered the Temple's main hall, while Clone Troopers marched around, checking for survivors. A Knight ran out at them from the shadows, but was snatched unexpectedly into the air from behind, his saber clattering to the floor. He clawed at his throat in fright, and then fell limp an instant later as the same blue saber stabbed through him from behind, with the scene shifting yet again._

 _A hand reached out in the Force and grabbed Padme by her throat, effectively choking her as her eyes went wide with pain and disbelief._

" _ **No...NO! THIS CAN'T BE TRUE! AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN THROUGH!"**_

 _The image faded as Padme crumpled to the floor, unconscious, but barely alive._

 _A terrifying image flared into existence as the mist coagulated to reveal a dark shape. Anakin felt the breath leave him as he took in the image in front of him._

 _A black mask, with black merciless eyes and a breather from which mechanical sounds of breathing emanated, floated in front of him. The magnitude of fear that the image projected sent a chill through him and left him motionless, as he fell on the floor on all fours._

" _ **What is that? Why does all of this feel familiar?"**_

 _Anakin's vision swam and he blacked out._

* * *

 **(The Jedi Temple, Coruscant; 3 days after Order 65 was implemented)**

Anakin's eyes flew open and he bolted upright, his breath escaping him in ragged gasps as beads of sweat rolled down his face. His eyes flew around rapidly as he tried to take in his surroundings and ascertain his situation.

"Wow, you even look like a nightmare."

It was then that Anakin noticed the figure sitting next to him with a raised eye-brow.

"Obi-Wan… Wha-? How?"

"Calm down, Anakin. You're safe and in the Jedi Temple right now. I'll explain everything but you need to calm yourself."

"I don't care about anything else. Padme. Where is she? Is she safe?"

"Uhh, well.."

Anakin started, his eyebrows furrowing. "Obi-Wan.. What's wrong?"

The Jedi Master, usually an epitome of calm, was actually scratching his head and trying hard to keep his expression neutral.

"Oh, nothing's wrong, or maybe everything is. Depends on your point of view."

"Obi-Wan. You're not making any sense. Did Grevious hit you on your head or something?"

Obi-Wan cleared his throat and sighed to himself.

"Well, she went into labor some time yesterday, and gave birth to your kids today morning. All of them are fine. What's not fine, I think, is that the entire Jedi Order knows you're the father."

Anakin merely stared at him in shock. "How did they find-? Oh, blood test. Damn. Well, I'm glad she's…..Wait, did you say **KIDS**?"

"Yes, and I also think I can see a Gundark in there given how slack-jawed you've gone."

Anakin snapped his jaw shut and sighed. Well, he'd have to deal with one situation at a time. Shaking his head, he realized he still had medical probes attached to his chest, connected to a datapad giving readouts on his health parameters. A Medical droid walked in immediately as he decidedly ripped one of the probes off his chest, making the datapad beep in alarm.

"Greetings, Master Jedi. I am unit MD-69. I would request you to leave the probes attached as I take a readout of your parameters. Given your incomprehensible healing factor, you will be allowed to discharge yourself once I complete the procedure."

Anakin re-seated himself, trying to quell his nervousness, and looked at Obi-Wan, who for some reason, looked annoyed.

"Master? Is..everything okay?"

"You tell me."

"Huh?"

Obi-Wan drew in a breath, and then looked Anakin squarely in the eye, making the later quake in fear for some reason.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? Rushing in headlong like that, without any back-up or thought as to what would happen to Padme if something had happened to you! Do you ever pause to consider your options or the implications of your actions? What have I taught you, so painstakingly, during all those years as your Master? You may have won, but what if you hadn't?"

Anakin knew that Obi-Wan was more upset because he had almost died than because of what he'd done. He even sensed a slight tone of pride when his Master spoke the last sentence. Anakin decided to let him finish his discourse and just accept it, shamefaced. If there was one person you never messed with, it was a pissed off Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Obi-Wan resigned himself to staring at Anakin with apparent anger and folded arms.

"Obi-Wan?", Anakin ventured.

"What?", the latter snapped.

"I'm thirsty."

Obi-Wan huffed and stood up. He walked out of the room, and Anakin picked up the phrases 'No patience', 'never listens' and 'hit his head somewhere' amongst his grumblings. Anakin started at the last one.

A minute later, Obi-Wan walked in, his face still a mask of disapproval and handed him a glass. Anakin took the proffered glass and raised his eyebrows out of curiosity, as all that was in the glass was a block of ice.

Obi-Wan merely raised a palm and said nonchalantly, "Wait."

Anakin started, yet again. Damn, that old man had a sense of deadpan humor that was above anyone else's. Yep, never mess with a pissed off Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Once the droid finished it's readings, Anakin pulled on his shirt and both the Jedi headed out towards Padme's room.

"Once the Council realized that the children are yours, they had Padme shifted to the Temple, and the delivery was handled by Force sensitive nurses, so don't worry, it went smoothly. Again, from at least my point of view. I was just waiting outside.", Obi-Wan said. Well, apparently getting the rant out of his system had calmed him down once again.

"As long as all the three of them are okay, it doesn't matter...Wait, did she name the children without me even knowing?", Anakin queried, wide-eyed. _"_ _A brilliant way to start Fatherhood."_ , he thought to himself.

Obi-Wan merely smirked at his apprentice's put-out face.

Anakin practically ran into Padme's room, only to be stopped by yet another Medical droid, which frantically tried to prevent him entry.

"You cannot go in, Master Jedi! The patient has just been put to sleep using medication after a tiresome procedure. No visits will be allowed for the next six hours."

"But, I'm the father! I want to see my children."

"Oh.. Apologies, Master Skywalker. You may go in, alone, but I'm afraid Senator Amidala will not awaken any time soon, because of the medication. Health-wise, she's completely fine. You can visit the babies at the same time, as they are also currently asleep."

"Alright, then", he sighed.

The door opened with a pneumatic hiss as Anakin walked in to the room. Padme lay on a bed on the far side of the room, at the foot of which lay two cribs. Anakin slowly walked over to where Padme lay and sat down on a chair next to her bead. He caressed her face with his biological hand and smiled to himself as he felt the warmth of her skin on his. She seemed so peaceful in this state, her worry lines almost non-existent. He couldn't fathom as to what she'd gone through during childbirth and berated himself for not being there by her side.

He slowly enveloped her life aura with his, through the Force, and stood up when he felt a Force aura from the two twins, wide-eyed. He knew they were Force-sensitive, but to experience it first hand...

He shuffled over to the cribs and looked down upon his children, also asleep peacefully. It was then that he noticed the names on each crib.

'Luke' and 'Leia', they read. Tears welled up in his eyes as he realized he was looking at his own children. Sure, he knew he was having a child ever since he'd felt Padme's pregnancy, but actually beholding them in front of him made it feel extremely real.

He sobbed as tears streaked down his cheeks. Tears of happiness and mixed with other emotions that he'd been forced to go through the last few days.

"I swear it, on my life, that I **will** protect the three of you. With my life."

The medical droid walked in two minutes later and found Anakin kneeling next to the two cribs, his head bent to the floors as tear drops fell onto it. The droid walked up to him and spoke in a low volume, "Master, it would be prudent if you left them alone for a while. They need their rest and according to Master Kenobi, you have a meeting to get to."

Anakin nodded and stood up. Wiping his eyes on his robes, he walked out of the room, with a final look at all three of them.

Once out, he turned to Obi-Wan and asked,"Meeting, Obi-Wan? Is this a Council meeting, regarding my situation? Have they decided anything yet?"

"Well, the Council has been called into session half an hour from now for a multitude of reasons. Or, well, whatever's left of the Council, anyway."

"...What?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "A lot's happened while you were out. Fear not, the Council will bring you up to speed. It's best if we head over right now, though."

"Hold on, that reminds me. How did I get here? Who rescued me? I'm not sure, but I could've sworn I saw-"

He abruptly broke off as a figure rounded the corner.

"AHSOKA!"

Ahsoka smiled and said,"Well, looks like you're finally up, Skyguy. What took you so long?"

"Wha-? How-? WHAA-?", Anakin said, eloquently.

"Yeah, yeah, I was the one who saved you and Master Fisto. That's another one you owe me, Master."

Anakin smiled at her usage of the honorific for him. Damn, he'd missed her. He reached out and pulled her into a hug, ignoring the latter's protests.

"How are you here? Where were you all this time?", he asked holding her at arm's length.

"Patience, Master. The Force shall make everything clear at the Council meeting.", she smirked.

He frowned at her, but then relented, starting to make his way to the Jedi Council chamber.

* * *

The three's company strode into the Council room together.

The first thing Anakin noticed was the lack of people in the room, and well the lack of any hologram Jedi Masters occupying their seats. He raised an eye-brow and made to stand in the centre of the room with Ahsoka, while Obi-Wan took his seat.

"Await you, your seat does, Master Skywalker.", Grand Master Yoda said, gesturing to the seat next to Obi-Wan. Anakin was visibly surprised at that. _"_ _Err, did he just call me Master? And I thought this was supposed to be my Trial or something."_

As if reading his thoughts, Yoda ventured, "A unanimous decision, the Council had reached, regarding your position. Without further delay, grant you the rank of Jedi Master, we do. Served you, and the Galaxy well, your actions and forethought have.", in his usual jumbled manner of speech.

Anakin was borderline stupefied. He'd expected to be chastised for his relationship with Padme, and here the Council was, promoting him. Frowning slightly, he made for his seat. Why hadn't Obi-Wan said anything about this? Also, where were the rest of the Masters? It wasn't like them to be late. A total of four Masters, excluding Anakin, were physically present in the room, specifically, Yoda, Obi-Wan, Plo Koon and Shaak Ti.

"The Order owes you a great debt, Master Skywalker. I would even go as far as saying that you have single-handedly prevented it's eradication. We suffered heavy losses when you were fighting the Sith, but it would've been much worse if not for your timely and well-thought actions.", said Master Plo Koon. He sighed and clasped his hands together before continuing, "We lost a majority of the Council and about four hundred other Knights across the Galaxy. We even lost communication with the AgriCorps at Telos, and are assuming that there are no survivors there."

Way too many questions cascaded into Anakin's head together, rendering him momentarily speechless. Drawing a breath, he decided to tackle them one at a time.

"How? I thought I'd prevented the Sith's plan from fruition by calling for the execution of Order 65? How did we still lose so many Jedi?"

Obi-Wan decided to take over.

"Exactly the way you'd figured, actually. Contingency Order 66. Do you remember the explosion at the power generating station? That not only generated a section-wide blackout, but, coupled with a signal jammer, completely blocked off all communications made to and from this sector, due to which many troops in the Outer-Rim did not receive Order 65. In addition to this, the Sith had apparently made plans in case his current one failed. He'd recorded a hologram of him issuing Order 66, which was broadcasted on all GAR frequencies from some other part of the planet. All units that had received Order 65 outright rejected the command as it was from a now unauthorized person. The remaining, though..."

He didn't need to complete the sentence for Anakin to realize what had transpired, and something clicked at the back of his mind. _"_ _Damn it, it all was because he was able to get an order out to someone through his transmitter during our fight! That's what his 'Contingency Order #2' was, then. Shit, this man might've been an idiot in trying to convert me to the Dark Side, but he's still a brilliant strategist. Not to mention powerful."_

"The Senate was called into an emergency session day before yesterday by the Security Council, and Bail Organa has been voted in as the temporary Supreme Chancellor, which he will hold until a proper election is held. Although, because of Order 65, you still are the Supreme Commander of the GAR, a fact that a lot of Senators, surprisingly, didn't have an issue with. They realized how the previous Chancellor had abused the power given to him and are actually fine with the Jedi being in control of the army. I suppose it is again thanks to you that the Jedi are still trusted Galaxy-wide."

Nodding to Obi-Wan, Anakin said, "And what of the Clone legions that carried out Order 66? What happened to them? Are they still gunning for Jedi? Any way we-"

He frowned and stopped mid-sentence when he saw the Masters exchange looks.

One hand stroking his chin, Obi-Wan looked at Anakin and said,"Once we became aware of what had transpired across the Galaxy, we looked up the Contingency Orders completely. The entire Clone Army comes with a command, or, well, a kill-switch, to be exact. In order to prevent Clones from deserting and joining the opposite faction, or to prevent them from being held hostage, the higher authorities reserve the right to 'Disavow' said Clones. Any clone that has been disavowed has a small chip inside them render them brain-dead, to be either mind-wiped later or be disposed off. As you, the Supreme Commander was not available to make such a decision, the power, once again lay with the Senate, which immediately voted to disavow them, without any care as to what would happen to any Clones." Pausing to swallow, Obi-Wan continued,"We lost a total of around eighty thousand troopers due to that."

Anakin's eyes widened as he continued to listen to what Obi-Wan was saying. He was angry. Angry at how callous the Senate was, at himself for being too slow, and at the Council for being blinded in-spite of everything transpiring around them. This was unacceptable, and he was going to make sure something like this never happened again. The Jedi Council was too conceited and reserved, and at times like this it actually set events with far-reaching consequences into motion.

Ahsoka had, meanwhile, slunk to a corner and was merely observing the proceedings, having no say either way.

"Eighty thousand, huh?", he said quietly, drawing everyone's eyes to him. "For all your wisdom and supposed strength, you still couldn't protect eighty thousand lives from being rendered comatose. Forget the other Jedi, these clones laid their lives down for all of us, and you still couldn't do anything about it when the call to kill their brains was taken? It's like Ahsoka said, all those years ago. The Order has been blinded by age-old rules and 'Code'. How is it that none of you were able to sense such a vile being gaining so much power, right under your noses? You put so much blind faith that everything would just magically turn out to be okay, that that very inaction of yours caused such a huge catastrophe to take place. While focusing on just the Jedi Code, you've forgotten the most important thing. You've forgotten what the Jedi stand for, first and foremost. It's not peace, justice or anything as noble as that. It's balance."

"Now, listen here-", Shaak Ti started to say, but Anakin was on a roll.

"The Sith need to be weeded out because they are a disease, one that causes turmoil wherever it goes, and you all almost let one have his way with the Galaxy. In light of these events, tell me, how do you justify your actions and inaction to be valid? What exactly are you trying to teach the Padawans by telling them to completely cut themselves off from an emotion, that too one as powerful as attachment? You say compassion is centre to being a Jedi, but fail to see that it goes hand-in-hand with attachment. How is it balance if you completely weed out a feeling? That's not what the Code stood for. I maybe impulsive and nowhere near perfect myself, but I've mulled the Code over and I say that you've misunderstood it. Completely. What the Code warns us from is attachment of such a degree that you forget everything else, making it your only priority. You think I'm wrong? Well, I'm sure all of you know about me and Padme. Yes, she's my wife, and yes, those twins are mine, and despite my 'attachment to them', I was able to make choices in a level-headed fashion. Actually, this attachment of mine is what helped me make some of the more important choices in the right direction. You need to re-evaluate your beliefs, all of you. Continuing this way is only going to make things worse, and if you still think I'm extremely wrong for voicing out my thoughts due to my 'inexperience' or 'young age', I'm sorry, but I just might have to follow in my Padawan's footsteps."

Anakin realized he'd stood up at some point during his speech, and was staring hard at everyone present, with the exception of Obi-Wan. His Master had always stood by him, through triumphs and faults and he had never seen him sit around under the misnomer of peace, while some wrong was being done. He was glad, to have been apprenticed to Obi-Wan, of all people. Anakin was also surprised that he had managed to keep his anger in check and hadn't yelled out, making sure just his disapproval got across.

The various Masters looked at each other guiltily, and then looked inwards, contemplating his words and the meaning behind it. Truth be told, they'd had many other Jedi question the Code simply because they didn't agree, but this was the first time they were being shown that even words set in stone could be misinterpreted, that too with substantial proof.

While the others were thinking to themselves, Ahsoka had snuck up behind Anakin, and whispered into his ears.

"You really laid into them, this time. Could've eased up on the tone, but I suppose that's more of Master Kenobi's thing."

"Well, they had it coming. It's high time we changed, especially after an incident this messed up."

Yoda spoke up first. "While agree with your tone, I do not, recognize the wisdom behind your words, I do. Strong, is the Dark Side, strong enough to blind the strongest of us. Feel a dullness in our senses lift, we did, when you defeated the Sith. Acknowledge our folly in not acting sooner, I do. Averted much pain, we could have."

"What you did not know, Anakin, was of the politics that used to go on even within the Council. It's not like we didn't want to act on certain situations, but we were unable to, due to disunity amongst us. It may sound crude, me saying this, but, in a way, Order 66 has given us a chance to start anew. The entire opposition party, led by Master Mundi, who were staunch believers in the Jedi Code fell to a plot which was partially successful due to themselves. For the last eighty years or so, this has been the case, as Master Yoda had told me."

"Still, excuse our behavior, this does not. Only the wisest and active Jedi, do we need on the Council. Believe I do, that the first to join our ranks after this attempted Purge is of excellent caliber. Still a lot to learn, we have."

The rest of the Council silently nodded in agreement, while Anakin processed this new bit of information. It made sense, as despite Master Obi-Wan being on the Council, him directly involving himself in most conflicts was never frowned upon by Masters Yoda or Windu, while some others, especially Master Poof, openly voiced their thoughts against it.

" _Power hungry fools everywhere, huh?"_

"About your transgression of the Code, a decision the Council had reached. Counted as a violation, it will be not. Proven yourself a worthy Jedi Master, you have. Young in age, you may be, but a lot, can you teach us. For preventing our extermination, in your forever debt the Order is. In light of this, and the wisdom displayed by you, along with your understanding of the Code, bestow on you, the title of Barsen'thor, along with Master of the Order, we do."

Anakin would've definitely choked had he been drinking something. Okay, he had not expected this to be the outcome of his rant. The remaining members of the Council were apparently not that conceited, and were open to change. Well, if this was possible, it could definitely rain on Tatooine.

* * *

 ***Half a galaxy away, on a planet scorched by two suns, where selling water was the biggest scam, on account of it being the rarest commodity***

Gardulla the Hutt was a Galaxy-wide infamous scoundrel, known for his unlawful and extortionist ways. Right now, most of his income was by hoarding water supplies and selling the resource at prices that made Gardulla himself cringe. Thinking of the number of figures he expected his wealth to grow by today, he currently was relaxing on his luxury barge, some distance from the city of Mos Eisley.

The sudden torrent of rain that poured down on Tatooine, of all planets, had him choking on the Klatooine paddy frogs he'd just put in his mouth, and added to the thought of how many credits he'd be losing sent him into a panic. Not knowing how to help the massive, flailing Hutt, the remaining staff (at least the ones not distracted by the sudden plentiful availability of water, free of cost) stayed well away, only scratching their heads in bewilderment at the sudden turn of events, when the massive Hutt's motionless body fell off the dais.

Who knew rain was the way to end criminal empires?

* * *

 ***Jedi Council Chamber, Coruscant***

Shaking his head at the impossible thought he'd just had, Anakin focused on the next issue at hand. Yoda called Ahsoka to the front, and asked her to recount her side of the events, which the latter did, with a nod.

"Thank you for your timely actions, we do. Substantial were they, in saving the lives of Masters Fisto and Skywalker. Also, regret our actions, during your wrongly accused Trial, we do. Much to contemplate over the division within the Council, there still is. As before, a choice, to come back to the Order, we offer you, not as Skywalker's Padawan, but as a Jedi Knight.", Yoda said, once Ahsoka had finished.

Ahsoka seemed to ponder at that for a moment, and then she turned to look at Anakin, who merely smiled at her, absent-mindedly rubbing the back of his head.

"It would be great to have you back, Snips."

Her eyes sparkled with renewed vigor, and she turned back to the Grand Master.

"I lost the trust I'd had for the Order when you refused to stand up for me at my trial, but, if it is as you say, and the Order is willing to at least attempt changing, then yes, I think I would like to return. Nowhere else has felt like home, after all", she said, with a smile.

Plo Koon looked up at her and said "I'm glad you came back, young one. At least this way, we can start on a path of redemption. For the Galaxy, at large."

Ahsoka smiled back at the Kel Dor Jedi Master, and made her way to stand next to Anakin's seat.

"Coming back to the war, we managed to shut down all droid units and factories once we captured the leaders on Utapau. With Grievous' death, the Banking Clan also stopped backing it's leaders and the Separatists, leading to a lot of systems breaking off and requesting to rejoin the Republic. The Clone Wars are officially over, but the Clone Army will still remain on all Republic-affiliated planets, and Kamino will still manufacture Clone units as and when needed. A few 'Disavowed' clone units have been recovered and are currently at Kamino, having their programming wiped. If successful, they will rejoin the GAR, although, they will be kept under watch for a while to prevent any security lapses."

" _Thank the Force for that"_ , Anakin sighed. _"_ _No more fighting battles for days and ruining my robes. Hell, the Clones deserve it, more than we do. Also, I finally get more time to spend with Padme, and the twins."_

"If nothing else of utmost importance there is, then adjourned, this meeting is. Master Skywalker, a word with you in private, I would like to have."

The remaining Masters rose to leave, weary from the ordeal of the last few days. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka signalled that they would wait for him outside the Chamber, and followed the remaining Masters out.

Once the doors closed, Anakin walked towards the eight hundred years old Jedi Master, and sat down next to him.

"Powerful in the Force you are, Master Skywalker, with a potential to far exceed any Jedi, including me, yes. Your opinion I require, in a few matters concerning the Order."

"What would those be, Master Yoda?"

"Reach out with your senses, in the Force. Feel the power flow into and out of the nexus on which the Temple is built. Tell me, what do you feel?"

Anakin shut his eyes and concentrated, drawing in on the Force to extend his senses. He reached out far below the Temple where a nexus of lines of Force existed. This was the reason the Temple was built in this very spot. The power that emanated out of a nexus was massive and it always calmed Anakin, whenever he stepped in-. Wait. Something was wrong. The Force that flowed out of the nexus had an odd feel to it. It was a slight ripple, but noticeable and as soon as Anakin tried to reach out to it, he started to feel anything but calm. It induced several emotions in him; Fear, anxiety, anger being a few.

Immediately realizing what exactly the problem was, he snapped his eyes open, withdrawing the probe.

"The nexus.. It feels...tainted. There's Dark energies corrupting it."

Yoda looked at Anakin with mild interest. "Exactly, young one. Feeding from, and into, this Force nexus, the Sith has. Accelerate the generation of Dark energy, your battle against him has. A long time will it take, for the nexus to return to balance."

"But, Master Yoda, the Order resides in this Temple! What will we do if-?"

He paused as something clicked in his mind. "The other Jedi Temples across the Galaxy are also built on Force nexuses, aren't they? You wanted my opinion on whether to move the Jedi Order to one of the others, am I right?"

"Serve you well, your insight does. In times of despair, the Order has always fallen back upon the planet where the Order was first born; the planet where the first Jedi Temple still stands: Tython"

Anakin frowned at that. "Wasn't Tython abandoned and forgotten after the Order moved to Ossus?"

"Abandoned, it was, yes, but not left unattended. Shift to Ossus, the Order did, due to a similar taint in the nexus on Tython. Left under the care of Twi'lek residents from a nearby village, the Temple was. Discover this I did, four hundred years back. To balance, the nexus had returned, then."

"Twi'leks? On Tython?"

"Two villages of them. Send Sentinels to the Temple secretly, to reinstate it to working condition, I did, for the past two centuries. Know of this no one did, except Master Windu and I."

"If the Temple is actually in working condition, then I would suggest moving the Order Headquarters there. We can still have Knights and a few Masters here, but I think moving the bulk of the Order and bringing all new recruits to Tython would be the best idea."

"Agree with you, I do, Master Skywalker. Begin the process in a week's time, we shall. Now, on to the second matter. Once old enough your children are, Jedi, will they become?"

Anakin was surprised at that. As far as he knew, the Order forcefully inducted all Force-sensitives into the Order, even before they had any memories of their parents, if it could be helped. The Jedi Order even had that right by law. And Master Yoda was actually giving him a choice? He frowned at that. No one could become so accommodating instantaneously.

Sensing his doubts, Yoda explained "Originate during the Great Hyperspace War, the law to induct Force-sensitive children into the Order did. Mandatory it was, at that time, to prevent children from being trained to use the Dark Side, and to increase our numbers. Pointless it was, after the complete demolition of the Sith Empire and the Brotherhood of Darkness. Again, consider this to be a part of the Code blindly, most of the Council did."

Anakin nodded at that. That made sense to him, as he knew the state the Sith Empire had left the Order in, after the near destruction of Coruscant during one of the Wars. Incidentally, that was also when the Order had last fallen back onto Tython, before moving to Ossus.

"Yes, Master, I would like them to be trained as Jedi, **but** , only if they are not separated from me and Padme. I will not accept that, under any circumstance."

"Of that, there will be no need. Trained under your own tutelage, will they be, or under a Master you see fit, yes." Nodding, he continued,"A final matter, I would like your opinion on. There is one, who has turned from the Dark Side. Rescued from falsehood and being used, he was, by you. Intend to bring him back to the Order, I do."

"Who? Wait- Dooku?" Anakin said, his eyes widening.

"Feel his repentance through the Force, I can. Deceive me, it does not. Still, to visit him, I would request you. Require a second opinion, I do."

"I don't see any harm in that, I suppose. I will visit him as soon as I have time, Master. For now, I think I will return to my chambers. I'm already tired, even though all I have done is talk.", he sighed, getting up at the same time.

"A moment, Master Skywalker", Yoda said, deep in thought. "Your saber. Switch it on, please."

Anakin frowned, but detached his saber from his belt. Holding it with his cybernetic hand, he stretched out his arm and ignited it with the characteristic 'snap-hiss'.

His breath caught in his throat as he saw the blade of his lightsaber. The once brilliant blue colour, was now replaced by a glowing silvery-grey.

Master Fisto decided to make a holo-appearance from his hospital ward room at that very moment, surprised at the drawn lightsaber.

"What in the world happened when I was out?"

* * *

 **A/N 2: Grey Jedi, muahahaha. I have plans to reform the Order into what Luke made it, in the EU. Not exactly the same, but similar. Should be fun.**


	6. Post traumatic stress of the Order

**A/N 1: Got delayed slightly with getting around to writing this chapter as I was pretty preoccupied this week, and hence, the usual Friday update on a Sunday. Worry not, hopefully, I'll get back to my original schedule by next week!**

 **Beta credits to anand891996. Thanks, sleemo. :)**

 **Also, Dark Side Cookies to ThunderSphinx for reviewing every single chapter! It's because of people like you that I get encouraged to write more. :D**

 **Anyway, here's the next one, and I hope you enjoy it! May the Force and the stars watch over you!**

* * *

Chapter 6

Charred Force-robes formerly imbued with the Force after multiple Dark rituals. Plummeting down towards unknown depths at terminal velocity. Nauseatingly pulsating Dark Force energies. The wound on his torso that was causing him to bleed profusely. None of these bothered Darth Sidious as he continued to fall towards the lower levels of Coruscant, after being thrown out of the Senate. Quite literally.

He was angry, and visibly fuming, causing the Dark energy coursing around him to flare out. His plans to convert the Chosen One to the Dark Side had failed, spectacularly. He was even devoid of his former apprentice to rely back upon. With no army at his command, and almost the entire GAR out for his head, he was forced to fall back upon his Contingency plans. He had never imagined ever needing them, at least not his last resort. Underestimating Anakin Skywalker had proven to be costly. His Force prowess was definitely not exaggerated; Even though he was barely an adult, he was immune to any form of Force-based mind control or suggestions.

Flipping upright mid-air, he propelled himself sidewards, using the Force to exert, well, force to grant him flight. Using a powerful Force blast that almost shattered the Durasteel outcrop he was heading towards, he slowed himself to a hover and landed upon it, still contemplating about the events that had transpired. Well, at least all wasn't lost. That fool Mas Amedda had been a perfect tool, with all the required authority and weaknesses in the right places. Hell, it wasn't even hard to bend his will completely, given how enthusiastic he seemed about helping Sidious murder Sheev after the former had subjected him to suggestions from the Force.

Amedda had managed to procure a secure hangar for him, along with a shuttle with cloaking ability. The shuttle had been expensive, but it had come out of the Republic's budget, under "Security measures for the protection of the Supreme Chancellor". The two of them were the only ones aware of said starship and it's cloaking technology.

Also, he had managed to eliminate a lot of Jedi, even most of the Council, with his pre-recorded hologram and timely jamming of signals sent out to the GAR troops. True, it hadn't been even close to what he had intended, but still, the Jedi's pride was dented. He would continue to exploit their inaction and stubbornness to his advantage.

He made to stride forward, in the general direction of the hidden hangar, when a massive bout of pain flared up in his chest, stretching down till his pelvis. He doubled over and retched blood onto the floor, all the while his hands seeking to support his aching chest. His eyes went wide as they came away with blood, damp and still flowing, by the looks of it.

Sidious was surprised, more than hurt. He had performed multiple Dark rituals on his robes to prevent any form of Force-based harm coming to him. The robes acted as a passive barrier, that activated instantly when in danger, without him having to think about defending himself. Mind probes, minor Force blasts and even lightning dissipated off it harmlessly, then why exactly was he bleeding? Apparently the blast that had followed after Windu's lightsaber crystal exploded had been extremely powerful, and had Sidious not worn these robes, he would've been crumpled like a Womp rat in the jaws of a Rancor. That was a powerful piece of equipment in his arsenal that had just been destroyed, but no matter, he would procure more. Time was what he had, and he would lay low and work from the shadows for a while before he made his next move apparent.

Sidious was a Master of the Dark Side. He had spent decades studying the Force and it's various properties. During one of the studies that his Master had actually begun, Sidious found a way to influence the Midichlorians to heal an injury.

Midichlorians were microscopic symbiotes that thrived more in areas, or beings, strong in the Force. The Midichlorians inside live beings actually thrived off the Force and in return, accelerated various bodily functions. So, in a way, they needed the Force to live and also were the reason for people to be able to manipulate the Force.

Making use of said bodily function acceleration, Sidious had figured out how to enhance protein generation in his body, to repair torn tissues or heal injuries. This was one of the various branches of research his Master had done, in order to finally be able to 'create' life, and Sidious had been quick to modify it to other benefits.

Drawing in on the remaining Force imbued in his vestments, he fed it into his body, and felt the tissues repair themselves under his hands. He was still surprised at the amount of damage he had sustained, as the healing was not just on the exterior, but also extended to his lungs and other organs. He actually had to use the Force coursing around and within him to replenish blood, which again worked by enhancing blood generation in the bone marrows, as his clothing bled dry by the time he had finished healing his tissues.

Grimacing with discomfort at the newly-formed muscles stretching, he straightened up and threw his Inquisitorial garb aside. They were pointless, now, and would only stand out if someone were to see him. The amount of energy he'd charged into the Force Storm had also tired him out, so he had to escape this planet, fast. Holding the hilt of his saber in his right hand, he ran towards the hangar, pouring on speed by using the Force to enhance his muscular capabilities and stamina. He couldn't stop for any reason, as irrespective of how strong he was, the entire fight had worn him out and he didn't want the Order on his tail. Well, the lower you went on Coruscant, the lesser was the crowd and the number of people hiding from the law increased proportionally. The lower levels were almost uninhabited, and almost all of the population comprised of criminals, drug dealers and similar low-lifes.

He rounded the first corner and came across a group of thugs, who, luckily for him, and unluckily for them, had a speeder. Without pausing, Sidious simply lifted them using the Force and broke their necks simultaneously. An audible crack echoed down the almost empty alleyway. He took a jacket with a hood off a human who looked about his size and found the keys to the speeder in the jacket of the only Rodian in the group. Leaving the remaining bodies as they were, he sped down the alleys, now on a speeder.

It took him half an hour of traversing the various levels of Coruscant to reach the hangar. He made sure to avoid all main streets, sticking to the less-populated back alleys. Still, even though he was taking mostly unused streets, he was surprised as to how many Troopers he saw. None of them were anywhere close enough to stop him, but he supposed that the entire faction of the Army on Coruscant was on high alert. He wondered if there was a blockade above the planet too.

Sensing multiple presences near the entrance to his hangar, he slowed the speeder down to a stop and dismounted. No point in making a dramatic entry and having his cover blown. His face hidden by the hood, he walked towards the entrance purposefully, not paying the squad of Troopers rounding up a gang right next to it. The Troopers took no notice of him as he walked out on to the road, ten strides away from the entrance.

He pulled out his access card and made to access the datapad next to the door, when he felt an armored hand on his shoulder.

"Hold up there. Show me your ID! This section is off limits and there's a curfew being imposed."

Sighing, Sidious turned around to look at the clone that had a blaster pointed at him with one hand.

"What the-", the Clone intoned, taking in the red-rimmed yellow eyes and the dark blue marks on the man's face, right before his speech and torso was sliced through by a red blade that was held in the latter's hand.

Seeing and hearing their comrade fall, the remaining clones turned around and pointed their blasters at the figure, their eyes widening inside their helmets at what the saw.

"OPEN FIRE!", the Lieutenant yelled, partially in panic.

Sidious strode forward, deftly swinging his saber in arcs and reflecting blaster bolts back at the troopers. Three of them fell even before he reached the group. He picked up the one closest to him using the Force and smashed him into the building next to them. Without missing a step, he yanked his hand backwards, pulling the blasters out of the remaining Clone's hands, and before they could realize what had happened, he slashed at them with his saber, effectively reducing their number to just the one Lieutenant, who apparently had enough sense to try and call for reinforcements.

"This is Unit-4761! Target has been spotted! Repeat, Target has been spotted! Request immediate ba-"

Sidious let the Clone's body drop to the floor from where he was impaled on his saber. Well, he couldn't wait to see if anyone had actually received the reinforcement request. Switching off his saber, he walked back towards his hangar and swiped his card at the datapad, which had somehow not been struck by a stray blaster bolt. The door leading to the hangar opened with a hiss, and Sidious walked in, making his way to the ship, only to find it was already powered up and waiting.

As he boarded the ship, lightsaber ready, Mas Amedda's voice floated out from the cockpit.

"My Lord, we got the ship powered up and ready immediately once you gave the Contingency Order. If you would seat yourself, we can depart immediately."

"Good. Tell the crew to take off immediately, and head down here. I have your next task for you.

Less than a minute later, the ship took off, and Amedda made his way to the central seating area.

"There's a blockade around Coruscant, My Lord, but with the cloaking technology being one of the Republic's own, they wouldn't detect us escape past."

Nodding at that, Sidious said "Draw up a list of Crime Syndicates spread across the Galaxy, ordered by strength. I need an army, having been devoid of my current one, and such organized criminal elements make for the best dumb muscle."

"Immediately, Sir.", Amedda said, switching on the holo-projector in the center of the lounge.

"Also, have you received any further word from Maul?"

"No, My Lord, not after the last update. Even now, the Jedi and the galaxy, at large, remain oblivious as to his continued existence. Even I myself have not found out Lord Maul's location, despite being in direct communication wi-*ack*"

Amedda clawed at his throat, his eyes widening with fear at the sudden constriction that prevented him from breathing.

"Speak more than you're asked to again, and I will cut out your tongue. You will only know as much as I deem required.", he said, relinquishing the Force Choke after a second.

The tall Chagrian fell to his knees, gasping for air.

"O-of course, M-My Lord. Ap-Apologies."

Sidious stood up from his chair and walked to the cockpit, which was the only room on the ship with a view of the outside. The ship was a model from the times of the Sith Empire, and this particular ship had been owned previously by very powerful Sith Lords, during the time of the Treaty of Coruscant. It had been carefully hidden and retrofitted with the best upgrades ever since, before it's location was lost a thousand years ago. Darth Sidious had been the one to find this ship again, and had it brought back to working condition, to serve as his personal Starship. With four precision laser cannons controlled from the cockpit, missile launchers, hyperspace-capable and shielding technology, this ship was much better than most other ships in the galaxy at the moment. His Master had guided him to the location of the vessel, and he marveled at it's menacing look.

Previously owned by the Sith Emperor's Wrath and Darth Baras and having been originally developed by Grand Moff Kilran, the Fury-class Imperial Interceptor sped past the blockade above Coruscant, completely undetected, while Darth Sidious sat on the Captain's chair, plugging coordinates into the star map. A moment later, the stars that looked like pin-pricks elongated into streaks of light, and the ship blasted off into hyperspace.

* * *

 **(The Sith Academy, Korriban)**

Korriban. Ancient birthplace of the Sith. The Jedi believed ruins were all that was left of them. A blind belief that would, one day, lead to their inevitable ruin.

The Sith Academy's massive structure loomed over the various other ruins and tombs in the area, as the Fury angled itself towards the landing pad near the building. It had been forty years, since reclamation had started on this planet and twenty five years ago, the now-operational Sith Academy had received it's first batch of trainees: Force-sensitive children, that Darth Plagueis and Sidious had found around the galaxy. Originally trained to be just assassins, these acolytes got new purpose under the command of Darth Sidious: to make an army, an unbeatable army, comprised of only Sith.

Korriban was a lost world, and hence, there was no Republic outpost left to keep an eye on the planet. It had been almost easy for Sidious to set his plans to motion here. He wanted an Empire, one he could rule over as an Emperor. He saw the Rule of Two as a means to an end, so did his Master, his true Master. Visions and a voice had led the young Sith apprentice to Korriban, forty years ago, and it was here, in a tomb of some long forgotten Sith Lord that he encountered the spirit of his Master. The spirit claimed to be the still-existing soul of a Sith Emperor who was believed to have died thousands of years ago, and naturally, Sidious had not believed him, and was extremely wary.

Sensing his disbelief, the Spirit drew him in, through the Force, and showed him visions of his prowess at the height of his rule. The power to subdue anyone, the power over the wills of the masses and the power to destroy...entire planets.

The vision had left Sidious panting, and he passed out on the floor from the experience. Waking up a few hours later, he found the Spirit to be still lingering about and now, with new-found belief, he asked for what he wanted: a way to acquire such power. The Spirit, lacking a body of it's own, latched a part of it's soul onto his own, and guided him. It was at the Spirit's request that he had brought his Master here, and had laid the foundations of the Academy, although, as far as his Master knew, it was only to train Force-sensitive assassins that would prove to be extremely useful to them. It was also at the Spirit's request that he slew Darth Plagueis in his sleep, lest he prove to be against their plans.

In time, Sidious grew powerful, and believed to have gained the Spirit's trust. It was then, that the Spirit finally revealed it's name to him, when it had been alive, and been Emperor: Vitiate. The Sith Emperor who had transcended mortality and did not require a body to survive. He could even take any being as a vessel, if he so wished it. No mind was too formidable against him, and Sidious was promised such a power. Drunk with the thought of being Emperor, he continued to watch over the Sith Academy, now with over two hundred acolytes and five Sith Lords.

His dream, as was his Master's, was to establish the Sith Empire of old. The Dark Council would rule over the entire Galaxy, while he, the Emperor, would rule over them all. His powers would know no bounds, and he was already much stronger than he could've ever imagined under Plagueis.

Plagueis may have been strong, but he was forgetting the true purpose of the Sith, and the Sith Code. The Jedi were his main enemy, but the plan he'd put in motion to get rid of them completely had failed. All because of that...boy. He had underestimated Skywalker's strength in the Force, and his Master was bound to be upset at that. The previous times, he had tortured him, using just visions and, needless to say, Sidious found displeasing his Master very unappealing.

Still, he would have to devise a new way to destroy the Jedi, throwing the Galaxy into turmoil, if he must. The Jedi were weak, and survival of the fittest was the only omnipresent rule throughout the Galaxy. Confrontations, and eventually wars, were brewing in the horizon. The Galaxy would change, one way or the other, and Sidious was sure he would not lose.

Peace, after all, was a lie.

Lord Maul walked out of the entrance of the Sith Academy, having picked up his Master's ship's signal when it dropped out of hyperspace. He breathed in the air of the planet, drawing in on the Force around him, tainted in Dark energy. It always refreshed him, in his own perverse way. Clad in the traditional vestments of a Sith Warrior, a deep brown chest-piece with a red sash around it, and black leggings and boots, he made his way towards the landing pad, his lightsaber's hilt glinting in the sun while dangling off his hip.

After Maul's plan to take over the various Crime Syndicates for an army of his own had failed spectacularly, ending with his brother's death, Darth Sidious had tortured him for almost two months, during which he was, painfully, made to recognize his flaws and faults. Then, Sidious had told him about his plan, and Maul's role in it, with a promise for revenge once he fulfilled what was asked of him: to train an army of Sith Acolytes, all armed with lightsabers. Maul had only been too glad to comply, as he was being promised enough bloodshed and power over the Academy to make his knees weak. Ever since then, he had been confined to this planet, training the various new recruits in the Dark Side, trying to find out what they were adept at, Sorcery, Lightsaber combat, Force-based attacks and so on.

The Fury came to a halt on the pad, and the loading ramp opened with a hiss. Darth Sidious walked down it's length, wearing a dark black and purple set of robes with a cloak and cowl, followed by a Chagrian, probably a non-Force sensitive servant of his, who scampered back up the length of the ship once Sidious had finished instructing him. Without a glance backwards, Sidious strode purposefully towards him, his demeanor not showing any emotion, but Maul was able to perceive his anger ripple out through the Force.

Maul dropped to one knee and bowed when Sidious was close enough to him.

"Rise, Lord Maul. I would like an update on the situation in the Academy.", he said shortly.

"We are on track with your proposed timeline, My Lord. There next batch of Acolytes are set to finish their trials in a week. They're pathetic, most of the others, but there are a few promising ones amongst the rabble."

"Good, and now, I sense you wish to continue on your path of revenge against that Jedi, Kenobi."

"Yes, My Lord. I wish to see him suffer for what he brought upon me and my brother."

"Patience, my apprentice. In time, all will come to pass. You will have your revenge."

The two figures walked back towards the Academy's pyramidal structure. The Academy Guards knelt as Sidious strode past them, his cloak sweeping along, fluttering slightly in the wind. Within the Academy's interior, acolytes moved about, either heading to meet their Overseers or studying the giant obelisk in the centre of the hall. Two staircases led up to the first floor, situated at the far corners of the hall from where Sidious entered. Each acolyte paused and bowed when they saw him, before continuing along their duties.

Sidious took the stairs and made it to the first level, with Maul following, his metal legs clanking against the stairs. An elevator brought them to the upper level, where the original Dark Council chamber was located. Sidious considered himself to be the only person powerful enough to have a seat on the Council. Hierarchically, the Council members, with the title Darth, would be at the top, right under him, followed by Sith Lords and then acolytes and such. After he deemed others worthy enough to be Councilors, he intended to ascend to the title of Emperor, leaving the politics and the Academy to the Council. He intended to focus on his larger goal: to conquer the galaxy, and make an Empire stronger than any other.

He strode into the Council chamber and took the chair he'd had erected at the far end of the room, the one that sat at the head of the two rows of chairs. Thrones, more than chairs, but like the Republic Senate, the Council seats were referred to as such.

Maul stood a distance from him, hands clasped behind his back. Once seated, Sidious looked at him and spoke.

"Your next immediate task, Lord Maul, is to bring back your allies from the various Crime Syndicates you had under your command together. My servant, Mas Amedda, has compiled a further list of such criminal elements, and I grant you express right to turn them to our cause, willingly or otherwise. I need an army of soldiers, and these mercenaries provide for the best trained dumb muscle in the galaxy. Make haste, Lord Maul, and you would have earned my favor, yet again."

"It will be done, My Lord.", Maul bowed and left the Council chamber, leaving Darth Sidious to his machinations and plotting.

Leaving the Sith Academy, Maul made his way to the shuttle dock where a ship waited for him to take him to the planet's orbit, where, at a small station, multiple ships including his were docked. Mentally ticking off the various syndicates that had been under him, he intended to head to Mandalore first. Ever since the death of Duchess Satine, the planet was in civil unrest, and he figured that the recent developments in the Galaxy would have done nothing to decelerate the situation. Maul had found out about Clone Contingency Order 65, and had realized that the purge of the Jedi his Master had tried to initiate had failed. The Death Watch, or at least the faction of it that recognized his command, was still active on Mandalore, fighting Bo Katan's faction for leadership of Mandalore. They would be the first he would recruit. There was no point in wasting such seasoned warriors on such a small, pitiful planet anyway.

Maul had failed to completely unify his army, partially because his vision had been too small. All he had wanted was to get back at Kenobi and the Jedi, and in his blind thirst for revenge, he'd failed to see a larger picture. Lord Sidious had made sure he learnt from his mistakes, painfully.

Still, he felt such a unification and attempt at bringing back the Sith Empire was actually possible, under his Master. He felt a power in him that he hadn't the last time Maul had been his apprentice. It was almost as if his Master had found a source of infinite power to channel his strength. He'd had his doubts, originally, but quickly overcame them when Lord Sidious had incinerated an acolyte for begging for mercy.

He came out of his reverie as the ship docked with the space station. Another hurdle they would have to overcome was the obvious requirement of a powerful fleet. Almost all of the criminal empires had ships and fleets, but none of them had enough to match the firepower or strength of a Republic Capital ship. Those ships could single-handedly fire turbolasers and deploy a multitude of troops, and the GAR had a lot of them. Maul wondered what Sidious intended to do about that. Still, he would complete the task given to him, and to that end, he detached his starship from the docking station, punching the coordinates for Mandalore into the navicomputer at the same time. A moment later, the ship aligned itself along it's trajectory, and sped off into hyperspace.

* * *

 **(Coruscant; 3 months after Order 65)**

Anakin awoke with a start, gasping for breath. Even though the set temperature in their room was low, he was perspiring badly. Taking deep, ragged breaths to calm his racing heart, Anakin slowly got off his bed, checking to see if Padme was still asleep. She shifted a bit when he lifted the covers, but immediately went back to sleep. He walked over to the cribs near Padme's side of the bed and smiled as he beheld his sleeping children. He brushed the fingertips of his non-cybernetic hand against their foreheads, and walked out of the bedroom, heading towards the balcony that overlooked most of the Senate District of Coruscant.

The upper levels of Coruscant were always buzzing with activity, irrespective of the time of the day. A sea of vehicles sped past on each aerial lane, and the landscape seemed alive due to the multiple specks of light from the windows of each building. Sighing, he leaned against the railing as he ran a hand through his hair. He had been having parts of the same vision of that dark mask ever since he'd waken up after fighting the Sith. It always left him terrified and unable to sleep for the remainder of the night. He wondered what the vision meant, and why did it show his hand, using his lightsaber, killing a Jedi youngling? Anakin could never imagine himself even thinking of such an act, forget doing it, so what did that vision mean? And why did he actually feel like he had seen this vision long before? He needed answers, but had no idea as to where he could find them. He would've continued his reverie if not for Padme's voice that broke him out of it.

"Can't sleep, honey? Another nightmare?"

Sighing, he turned around, nodding a confirmation. She was dressed in just her night gown, and had a very bad case of pillow hair, but to him, she still looked beautiful, like an angel, as he had described her the first time he saw her.

"Tell me about it. Is it the same one?"

"It's-It's nothing, sweetheart. Please, go back to sleep. I will join you in a while."

"Anakin, how long is it going to take for you to be completely honest with me? I know you have nightmares because I wake up every time you do. I never pursued it hoping that you would tell me of your own accord, but...". Pausing, she shook her head and continued "Was it another vision? Like the one you had of your mother?"

He looked at her slowly, before nodding and looking back down at the floor.

"Yeah, although it's just bits and pieces of a vision. Still, every single time, I see this black mask with a breather, and it scares the living Force out of me for some reason. I also see my hand, with my lightsaber in it, cutting down a youngling, of all people. I wonder what it means, as all I can think of after this is-", he choked. Swallowing, he looked back up at her with a haunted look in his eyes.

"All I can think of is what I did on Tatooine. That village of Sand People that I murdered in cold blood. Tell me, Padme, am I some sort of monster?"

Padme stepped in front of him and took his face in her hands, gently caressing his cheeks.

"No, a monster is the last thing you are. Look at what you have accomplished. You are a loving father, an amazing husband, and a Jedi Master that the entire Order respects. No evil person could ever be any of those things. Listen to me, honey. It's time you put your past behind you. It was a mistake that a very emotionally imbalanced teenager made, and you are no longer that child. You have done so much for the galaxy that you have more than repaid for your sin. They tortured and killed your mother, Anakin. Only a monster would **not** feel angry at that."

Anakin merely nodded slowly and kissed the inside of her palm, as he wrapped his arms around her waist. They held each other that way for a minute, before Anakin looked up at her face and whispered, "Thank you, my love. You always know what to say to drive my fears away."

"Can't have my husband moping around all the time, now can I? Picked up a thing or two on smooth-talking from all the time I spent in the senate.", she giggled back.

Anakin scoffed and pulled her closer to him, his lips an inch away from hers.

"I love you.", he whispered, staring into her eyes unblinkingly. She immediately pulled his lips onto hers, while her arms moved from his face down to his shoulder. Anakin straightened up and lifted her from her shoulders, at which she immediately wrapped her legs around his waist.

All the while kissing her, he carried her to their bedroom, leaving his worries and thoughts behind.

There was a place and a time for everything, and this was not either for pondering on such dark thoughts. Master Yoda would be disappointed in him, but then again, he didn't really care at this very moment.

* * *

It had been around 3 months since the Order had discovered the taint in the Force nexus on Coruscant and had decided to shift back to the Temple on Tython, the planet that was believed to be the birthplace of the Jedi. Even though the Temple had been in prime working condition for nigh over a century, it had taken almost a month and a pretty large workforce to bring the Temple back to it's original condition, a place where Jedi could be trained and could live their lives, if they chose to. The Jedi were yet to explore the changes to the remainder of the problems, and as far as reports went, trouble was brewing, with unrest amongst the local species like Flesh Raiders. They were a species that had evolved on Tython, partially due to the imbalance created in Tython's Force nexus, and were almost like a disease that had to be removed. The Order, during the days of the Old Republic, had never sought out to exterminate said species, and it had even led to a time where the Flesh Raiders had taken up arms and there were even rumors of a Flesh Raider being able to wield the Force.

The Twi'lek population had increased by quite a bit, expanding beyond just the one village they'd had during the times of the Old Republic. Kalikori village still housed their largest population, but they had managed to establish another two villages. The Twi'lek population hadn't expanded as much as it could have in so long partially due to their continuous skirmishes against the Flesh Raiders.

The Jedi Temple on Tython now housed the bulk of the Jedi Order, with most younglings, Padawans and Knights having left in the first two months since the decision to shift was made. The Council was yet to hold their initial meeting in the Council room on Tython, which was in a week's time. The holocrons were starting to be shifted back to the library on Tython from their Archives, discreetly.

The Jedi had also consented to training a group of already well-trained Clone Troopers from the GAR in combat, everything from hand-to-hand to fighting with staffs. This group comprised mostly of ARC Troopers or Captains and many Republic Commandos. This entire group had been nicknamed The Knight's Fist, and just like the rest of the GAR, were directly under the command of Supreme Commander Anakin Skywalker. The Senate had seen no need for a change in that.

In short, Tython was poised to be the heart of the Jedi Order for the next few centuries or so.


	7. Much ado about some things

**A/N 1: Well, that took much longer than expected and I apologize for said delay. Had a lot of things catching up to me, and the priority for this got stepped down, slightly.**

 **Anyway, now that all of them are out of the way, the next uploads shouldn't take so long.**

 **And seriously, NO reviews for the last chapter? C'mon, if the Millennium Falcon needs fuel, so do I, in the form of reviews!**

 **Well, I hope you guys enjoy this as much as the previous chapters, and as always, PM me for queries/doubts/suggestions.**

 **Till next time, May the Force keep the winds beneath your wings.**

* * *

Chapter 7

The Low Altitude Armored Transport (infantry version), or the 'Larty' as the clones had coined them, broke the surface of the clouds as it descended into Tython's atmosphere, it's twin ion engines roaring in it's wake. The craft angled itself towards the Jedi Temple, nestled safely between the hills that dotted the planet's lush-green landscape. The Temple had it's own hangar on it's upmost floor, which could be used by all Jedi Knights and Masters.

Jedi Masters Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi held on to the handrails as the LAAT/i carrying them and a squad of Republic Commandos turned sharply and slowed to a hover a foot above the hangar. The doors slid open once the craft came to a rest and the passengers stepped out, noticing the party that had arrived to greet them.

Turning, Anakin looked into the visor of RC-1309 "Niner" and said, "Omega, head out and report to Rex from the 501st. I believe he's at the training ground right outside the Temple. He will brief you about your training and missions."

"Understood, sir!", they saluted and made to gather all their equipment.

By then, Obi-Wan had moved forward and greeted their welcoming party, comprising of Masters Koon and Ti. Anakin dismissed the troopers and joined them, bowing to the two Councilors.

Bowing in turn, Shaak Ti said, "Welcome to Tython, fellow Councilors. I hope you had a pleasant enough trip?"

"Yes, Master Ti. Thankfully, there was a spare room available aboard my Cruiser, else Anakin's answer would've been slightly different compared to mine."

The two Masters raised their eyebrows quizzically at that.

"Pretty sure he'd have loved to stuff me into the hold if there wasn't a room to spare.", Anakin clarified, while Obi-Wan and the others merely chuckled.

Gesturing towards the corridor, Plo Koon beckoned them to follow him out.

"As this is your first visit to Tython and this Jedi Temple, I would ask you to acquaint yourself with the premises. The Council Chamber is on this floor, at the head of the staircases that lead to the lower level, along with the Library and the generator room. The lower levels house living quarters for all Jedi who require it. Since the Order is currently much larger than it was the last time we fell back upon Tython, additional quarters are being built outside the Temple, towards the back. Right outside the temple are the saber combat training fields, while the main Training Grounds are on the other side of the hills that ring the valley that the Temple is situated in. The Padawans are all trained and housed over there, while the main Temple itself is for Knights and Masters. The training fields right outside are currently being utilized to train the Clone Commandos and ARC Troopers that form up the Special Combat And Reconnaissance Squad, or as the Clones coined themselves, The Knight's Fist. The troops are currently housed in the Twi'lek village right up the ridge, towards the north of the Temple."

By then, the foursome had walked out of the hangar and reached the inner sanctum of the Temple. Two staircases led from this floor to the lower one, spiraling along the walls, forming an almost-complete circle in the process. In the middle of the lower floor sat a massive dais, on top of which an equally impressively sized cluster of Jedi holocrons floated. The entire structure holding the holocrons itself was shaped like another Holocron. As Anakin tried to take in the entire structure, he noticed that multiple holocron slots were empty, and voiced his thought to the others.

Plo Koon answered his query. "During the times of the Old Republic, the holocrons were housed prominently in the structure you see in front of us, as they interact constructively with the Force flowing around them. Given how Tython was believed to be extremely well-protected from the Sith Empire, the Order never believed the security of the holocrons to be much of an issue. Well, right until the day the Empire laid siege to Tython and managed to almost destroy the Temple, after which most of them were stored in the vaults. The holocrons that are currently housed in the structure do not contain any extremely valuable information as such and serve as a focus point for the Force Nexus, hence just reinforcing the flow of the Force within the Temple. The structure is shaped that way for that very purpose."

Anakin nodded, satisfied with the explanation. The Order's false sense of absolute superiority and habit of sitting on their asses had apparently backfired a lot of times before this too.

By then, they had reached the Council Chamber doors. Turning back, Master Ti said "Well, the Council is to be in session tomorrow evening. Till then, you can look around the planet, if you so wish, or can retire to your chambers. Any Temple Guard would be able to assist you with the latter, and if you wish to go out, Master Skywalker, your legion's Commander, Rex, has the detailed plans to the regions of Tython that have been explored and mapped so far, which is about half the planet's surface, with the Temple at it's centre. Master Yoda is also currently out, at the Memorial to the North. I'm sure Rex could guide you around."

"Thank you for receiving us, Masters. Your assistance is most appreciated.", Obi-Wan bowed. They parted ways, and the pair headed down to the lower level.

"Well, what do you think? It's not like we did much during our flight here. Want to go out and see what this place is like?", Anakin queried.

"Well, not like I have anything else to do anyway. Another added bonus if you get lost somewhere."

"Oh, come on. Let's go find Rex."

They walked out of the Temple and halted, taking in the scenery in front of them, wide-eyed. Coruscant, for all it's lights, traffic lanes and buildings, had absolutely nothing on Tython. A ring of hills surrounded them in the distance, with multiple winding paths from the Temple leading through the various passes in the hills. Sunlight fell through the almost cloudless sky, making the water in the river that flowed some distance from them shimmer, as it flowed down through the hills.

The sound of vibroblades clashing brought their attention to one of the training stages at the foot of the stairs, off to the right, and they noticed multiple Troopers in full armor, duelling each other with vibroblades and training sabres, while a few Jedi Knights looked on and put in instructions from time to time. The pair walked down the stairs up to the group of Clones intently watching the ongoing spars. Anakin immediately identified the trooper standing at the head of the group to be Rex by his armor paint.

Noticing the figures walking towards them, the clones turned, and snapped to attention when they recognized who exactly he was, the motion distracting one of the clones engaged in a spar, promptly earning him a whack on his head, sending him crumpling to the floor.

"At ease, troopers, this isn't an inspection. Continue with whatever you were doing.", Anakin said, remembering that he was still the Supreme Commander of the GAR as such. Continuing, he motioned to Rex and said, "If you don't have any pressing matters to get to, Rex, I would like you to give me a tour of the planet, and maybe take me to wherever Master Yoda is."

"Of course, Sir!"

Turning to the rest of the troops he said, "Break up into pairs and get on with your hand to hand combat drills. You have the rest of the day off after that. Your daily missions can be collected from the terminal at the Operations room in the Temple tomorrow."

The troops snapped to salute them and moved off, fastening their helmets.

"I believe Master Yoda is at the Hero Memorial up North. I could get a transport to take us there, but it's actually makes for an excellent trek by foot, for about half an hour."

"Oh, I'd definitely prefer to stretch my legs. Think you can make it, Obi-Wan?", Anakin smirked.

"I'd smack you on the head, but I suppose I'd be jailed for treason against the Supreme Commander, so I'm gonna stick to telling you to get on with it."

Anakin snorted and started walking towards the trail leading off Northwards, behind Rex, who had re-fastened his helmet by now.

"Even though we have scouted most of this area out, there are still a lot of those not-so-friendly natives out there. They're a species called Flesh Raider. Big, ugly brutes and even armed with tech some of them. We've never had any major problems with them after that one time a group of them thought it was wise to attack a squad of Clone Commandos that had taken up a recon mission in their vicinity."

"What happened?"

"Delta Squad made short work of them. I don't think a single Flesh Raider escaped some injury or dismemberment. Surprisingly, they didn't kill anyone."

"Delta? Showing compassion? That's new."

"Well, we **are** being trained by Jedi, after all. Still, stay alert. No harm in keeping our guards up. You can sense them in the Force, apparently. Master Yoda mentioned that to me, when I was assigned on a mission with him. 'Distinct signatures, they have.', he said, whatever that means."

They made their way up the ascending path, meeting many other Jedi along the way. Given how the Order had only returned to Tython a few months ago, reconnaissance seemed to still be the top-priority. They didn't need any other troubles for a while, after the entire Nexus tainting on Coruscant. Jedi and troops were assigned together to various areas, working on expanding the planet map and securing new areas.

"Any places of interest that have been discovered here?", Obi-Wan asked.

"Well, there is the Hero Memorial that we are going to. Apart from that, there's the Forge, but that place is closed off to us clones, the Twi'lek villages and some Ancient Ruins, much older than the Temple, even further up north. Most advance teams comprise of Jedi alone, and only the Tython Guard Force is told about locations of interest, among the clones on the planet."

"Guard Force?"

"Well, even though The Knight's Fist is a single battalion of troops meant exclusively for high-priority missions and such, there are multiple other Companies it's divided into, each having their own missive, for now and until need arises. The Tython Guard Force, or Tython's Gauntlet, as we call ourselves are one such unit primarily focused on guarding the planet from threats within and from outside. It comprises mainly of troopers from the 501st, alongside Omega and Delta Squad, placed directly under my command after my recent promotion, which I still haven't thanked you for, Sir. Omega will be formally inducted tomorrow morning, given how this is their first visit to Tython after that year-long mission they were on."

"It was well deserved, Rex old boy. Still, damn, you guys are creative with names, if nothing else.", Anakin chuckled.

A good twenty minutes of walking along the trail, accompanied by this one moment when Anakin almost swung his saber at a Uxibeast that stuck it's head out of the underbrush all of a sudden, they found themselves at their destination. It took Rex almost tackling the former in order to stop him from attacking a beast that was as harmless as a Bantha.

The Hero Memorial was situated on top of a hill which was taller than most other peaks in the same range. A massive thirty feet tall statue of a Jedi with a drawn saber stood at the far end of the clearing, which they now entered through an arch. A stream flowed down the centre of the clearing before cascading down the side of the mountain. The air was chilly, but pleasantly so, up here. Rex waited at the arch while Anakin and Obi-Wan made their way down the path that weaved it's way to the statue's pedestal, their gazes transfixed by the Jedi's face.

The made their way over a bridge that spanned the width of the stream and stood at the foot of the statue, gazing upwards at it.

"At peace, yet powerful, the statue looks, hmm?"

Anakin spun around at the voice, recognizing it to be that of the eight hundred years old Grand Master of the Order: Yoda. The diminutive being in question, albeit one with a powerful presence, sat on a rock right off the path they stood on, in a meditative trance.

"Master Yoda", they both greeted.

"Greetings, young ones. A pleasant trip you've had, till here, I hope?"

"Very so, Master. This planet feels much more stronger in the Force than Coruscant ever was. It's brimming with life and the nexus itself is much more prominent here. Just being on this planet itself feels rejuvenating.", Obi-Wan said.

"Right you are, Master Kenobi. Birthplace of the Order, this planet is, for that very reason. Tell me, know of the Jedi whose statue this is, do you, Master Skywalker?"

"No, I actually don't. Part of the reason why I visited this place. Who is he? I can't even seem to place his face."

"The Greatest of the Order, he was, during the times of the Old Republic, when Satele Shan was the Grand Master. Responsible for the death of the Sith Emperor, he was. Lost through the centuries, his identity has been, but not his ideologies or achievements. Know of him, we do, as the Hero of Tython. Peaceful, yet unrivaled in combat and strategy. Embody the Jedi Code, did he."

"That title I've heard of, yes, and now that you mention it, I've even heard that he killed the Sith Emperor, but I had no idea there was a memorial in his name. Given how there was barely any information about him, I pegged it to be just a rumor. Wow, went head to head against the Sith Emperor, huh? The same one that even the Jedi Hero Revan was unable to beat, that too. How did someone like that have his name forgotten?"

"Important, names are not. Matter, only ideologies and beliefs do. Remind us, they do, of what we stand for. Beacons of hope we are, during dark times. Peacekeepers, of the entire Galaxy. Propagators of Balance and Justice, are we."

Anakin nodded and looked back up at the gaunt face, feeling uncharacteristically inspired for once in his life. Before, all he had wanted was to be with Padme for his entire life, irrespective of who opposed him, but since the last five minutes, all he wanted was a thirty foot tall statue. With his face on it. Struggling to maintain a straight face at that idea, he almost didn't hear Master Yoda when he started speaking again.

"Of your other reason to visit, I would like to know, Master Skywalker."

"What? Oh, right.", he said, pulling his face away from the trance he was in, before continuing. "Master, I actually wanted to visit you for the other reason. I...I have been having dreams.", he ventured.

"Dreams, you say? Visions, are they? Of the future?"

"No, I don't think so. For some reason, they feel vaguely familiar, as if I've seen them before, but I don't think they indicate the future, at least not anymore. Somewhere down the road, I was faced with a choice, and I think I made the right one. But, I'm not sure, and I would like to confirm it."

"Start, when did they?"

"Right after I fought the Sith on Coruscant. When I was unconscious."

Yoda had closed his eyes, and was frowning in consternation. Or maybe those were just his facial muscles. Anakin could never tell.

"Sit, in front of me, and meditate. Join us, if you would, Master Kenobi. Help Master Skywalker see and interpret his vision, we shall."

Anakin moved to sit in front of Yoda, while Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and followed suit, sitting next to both the Masters.

"Inwards, you must look. Seek out the vision."

Anakin's brow creased as he tried to focus his mind on the little bits and pieces of the vision he could recollect. Of all the various parts of that nightmare, the black mask was still emblazoned in his mind and it still made him go cold in fear as he brought up the image in his mind. Suddenly, he felt a powerful presence, one that seemed to flow around him before, latch itself on to the vision, preventing it from sinking into the depths of his mind again. He recognized it to be Yoda's, as barely anyone had a presence as powerful as the diminutive green Jedi.

He also felt Obi-Wan's presence, soothing and vigilant, and Anakin was truly thankful for that. There were just a few individuals he felt truly comfortable with, and Obi-Wan definitely ranked very high on that list.

Anakin felt like he was floating in a Force bubble, completely detached from his physical being, the entire thing being extremely surreal.

"Ready?" Master Yoda's voice echoed.

Anakin steeled himself and nodded. A second later he realized nods could not really be perceived in such a state, and he projected his thoughts out.

"Yes."

A second later, he felt himself get pulled into the vision, and for the first time since he was unconscious on Coruscant, he saw the entire vision from the start to the end. Except, it was like he was watching the vision being played out on a screen, with all three of them spectating.

He felt Obi-Wan's surprise and realization when the vision played out, and it dawned on him that this was indeed something that he had seen before, and it was not just a baseless hunch. Master Yoda seemed to be in control of the entire vision, even though it was actually taking place in his head.

When the vision faded, Anakin's consciousness returned to the physical realm, pulling out of the mental sphere. It was then that he realized that he was sweating profusely, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, symptoms that he usually woke up with when he had that nightmare.

Panting, he braced himself and looked up at Master Kenobi.

"You've seen this before, haven't you? I could sense your recognition and surprise."

Obi-Wan, surprisingly, looked calm as ever, not even out of breath. Frowning at Anakin's statement, he brought a hand up to scratch his bearded chin and spoke.

"It's not the vision that I recognize, but your surroundings in the vision. Anakin, this entire event transpired on Mortis, during the Clone Wars. I thought the Father had completely wiped it from your memory, but now I see he only managed to bury it deep in your mind. The Force energies that you experienced during your confrontation with the Sith seems to be the trigger that brought parts of it back to surface."

"Heard of neither this Mortis, nor a Father, have I, and neither do I wish to know of the events that transpired there. A possible future, it was, at that time. One that might've come true, if given yourself to the Dark Side, you had. Of the mask, I cannot say, but believe it to be a great evil that has been averted, I do.", Yoda followed up, his eyes still closed in contemplation.

"Master, does that mean that this will probably never occur? I mean, it used to terrify me, because I do recognize that cybernetic arm and lightsaber to be mine."

"Of that, I am sure. Blue, your lightsaber is not, any more. Balance, does it signify, and also the rejection of the Dark Side."

Anakin shook his head and stood up, wiping his brow. The relief was palpable on his face as he looked up to face the statue again. Obi-Wan followed suit and placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling at Anakin. They stood that way, each lost in their own thoughts, for a few minutes, before Master Yoda spoke up again.

"Interesting, it is, and maybe even a sign, of things to come. The last Jedi with the title of Barsen'thor, lived around the time of the Hero, did he. Fought in the same wars, they did."

"Right, I suppose I should brush up on all of that, now that I'm on the Council. Can't sound all wise if I don't know what I'm talking about.", Anakin replied, running a hand through the hair on the back of his head.

"You're still young, Anakin. Grow a beard first. Wisdom comes right with it.", Obi-Wan said, his mouth twitching almost imperceptibly.

Anakin turned to him, struggling to maintain a straight face as an idea blossomed in his mind. A beard, huh? Well, he'd see about that.

If there was one thing Anakin was much better than any Jedi Master at, it was at pranks.

Something starting along the lines of, "Well, Obi-Wan, I still owe you for standing up for me on Coruscant. I heard the Cantina in the Temple started up a few weeks back, and they have this really good Alderaanian Ale..."

* * *

 **(Jedi Council Chamber, Jedi Temple, Tython; The Next Day)**

Anakin Skywalker walked in through the double doors that led from the inner sanctum into the Council room, alongside a distinctively unrecognizable figure. The former looked like he was in pain, given his grimacing, but the figure alongside him knew it to be him trying to hold in his laughter.

Masters Ti, Fisto and Koon stood up from their chairs, seeing the two figures walk in, and frowned.

"Greeting, Master Skywalker. I believe this was supposed to be a closed meeting, one only for the Council Members."

"Greetings, Masters. Yes, I am aware of that. Why would you think otherwise?", he answered innocently, maintaining an excellent poker face.

"Err, your companion, Master Skywalker..."

Anakin snorted at that statement, making his amusement obvious, and spoke before the other man could make a statement.

"Fellow Councilors, allow me to present to you Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Without his beard, which he decided to take off, after a moment of inspiration yesterday night."

Jedi Masters were said to be the very personification of what the Order stood for. Calm and detached from emotions irrespective of how grave the situation was.

Which was basically in direct contrast to their expressions when they saw Obi-Wan's scowling, beardless face. Shaak Ti smothered her laughter with a hand and Plo Koon lightly chuckled to himself whereas Kit Fisto positively guffawed. Heck, even Yoda smiled.

"Now, that's one story I've got to hear.", Fisto said, barely able to control his amusement.

"Thank you, Anakin. What would I ever do without you? Anyway, if we're done with this, let's get on with the meeting."

"Yes, let us.", said Fisto, still chuckling, as everyone moved to take their seats.

Two minutes later everyone had settled in and Master Koon started with his report.

"This being the first official session of the Council after the Coruscant incident, I'm going to begin with an overview of all the issues that require our attention, immediate or otherwise. Training for the Padawans have begun at the training grounds, while the training fields outside the Temple, along with the training droids, are being utilized for training the Special Combat And Reconnaissance Squad (S.C.A.R.S) of Clones. Currently, the only issue we face there is the lack of sufficient Knights to teach groups of Padawans, but that should be covered once the next Trials are completed in a few months. Secondly, and more importantly, the loss of the AgriCorps on Telos IV. We were only able to rescue a dozen Force-sensitive Padawans, from the entire planet, so we're seriously short-handed there. I was going to propose a reform when it comes to the Jedi AgriCorps, but that is going to have to wait. On a more positive note, Tython is currently more secure than it has ever been in history. There is a fleet on standby at all times, situated around Secura Space Station. With the presence of the SCARS and so many Jedi, the Flesh Raider threat has also diminished considerably, and they have retreated back to their colonies, for which the Twi'leks are actually grateful."

The remaining Masters nodded at that, and Shaak Ti spoke next.

"As far as threats from outside grow, there is trouble brewing. There's a disturbance in the Force, one we've been able to perceive ever since the Sith Lord was found out on Coruscant. He's not dead, not by a long shot. The Dark side seems to grow, but thanks to the efforts Master Skywalker, we're no longer blind to it's existence and can prepare for it beforehand. Apart from just the Sith issue, there's unrest in the criminal elements throughout the Galaxy, and I've a bad feeling the two issues are somehow linked. Now that he has been found out, he knows that we will be actively hunting him down, as we've managed to make that Sith the galaxy's problem at large, and not just our own. Hence, he's going to require an army, unless he plans to just disappear permanently, which I very much doubt. To this end, I propose sending in Jedi undercover to find out whether the various crime syndicates have any links to the Sith."

"That seems like a good idea. To this end, I would like to propose another idea. Padawans who don't pass their trials can be offered a choice to join the SCARS, instead of the AgriCorps. This could be the first step to including non-Clone troops in the GAR. I know SCARS as such is a top-secret unit, but if this is successful, it could be implemented to the GAR at large. This would also increase the effective number of undercover agents to be sent to infiltrate the criminal empires.", Obi-Wan ventured.

The other Masters murmured their assent, finding no flaw with the proposition. Anakin nodded at him and then spoke up.

"Not so much of an issue from my end, but I suppose it still warrants discussion. Me and Obi-Wan monitored the Order's response to the various reforms we proposed, along with putting forward our misunderstanding of the Code. While there have been certain instances of disapproval amongst some Knights and a few Masters, most of the Order at large seems extremely relieved and welcoming. We've already had six cases of marriages between Jedi, along with two being with non-Force sensitive members, one of which was actually with a Clone trooper. The entire 'attachment' clause restatement seems to have brought the Order much closer than it was before. Emotions are no longer hidden, which basically implies lesser secrets and more trust. All in all, the emotional aspect seems to have finally attained balance. I don't know how many of you can actually feel it, but the Force seems to be flowing much more easily after that. I can't seem to describe it exactly, but in a way, it's like some aspect of the Force that was missing till now has been completed."

"Feel the difference, I do. More smooth the flow of the Force is, through Jedi. Studying it in depth, have I been. Unraveled another mystery of the Force, we might have."

"I agree. I kind of have been meditating on the same 'feeling' myself, making my observations based on Jedi before we proposed the reform and after. As far as I could gather, telling the Jedi to shut off an emotion, that too one as powerful as attachment, resulted in a lot of conflict within many Jedi, mainly Knights and Padawans. This inner conflict and confusion led to the creation of a 'bump' in the flow of the Force, as any Force-sensitive being is able to constructively or destructively alter the living Force around them, due to their high Midichlorian count. The 'bump', is like a restriction, which I believe corresponds to trying to close off the element of the Force corresponding to the attachment emotion. The Force can be assumed to be like a wave, and the various emotions and other aspects comprising different wavelengths that, when added together, gives rise to the entire spectrum of the Force that can be wielded effectively. Given how the Force is sentient, cutting off an emotion would create some sort of perceivable effect as a repercussion."

Shaak Ti and Plo Koon looked visibly taken aback at Anakin's understanding of the Force, never having pegged him to be the type to sit down and ponder an issue, rather than swing a lightsaber at it.

"Indeed, Master Skywalker. I see what Master Yoda meant when he said that the newest addition to the Council was of excellent caliber. I am impressed by your understanding of the living Force, along with your perception and cognition.", Fisto spoke, dipping his head slightly in acknowledgment, while the Shaak Ti still gaped at him.

" _Wow, that's twice today. Seriously, whatever happened to not showing emotions?"_ , Anakin thought to himself, and turned to Obi-Wan with a smirk.

"Beards aren't everything, Old man.", he winked. Obi-Wan just huffed back at him.

"Need to find solutions to the main issues, we do. More Council members do we require, for that. Propose two candidates, each of us shall, by the next meeting. For now, return to our duties, we shall. Until next time, adjourned this meeting is."

The Councilors all stood up, bowed and headed out, one by one. Obi-Wan walked out with Anakin and they stopped at the entrance, facing each other.

"Well, Anakin? Where are you off to?", Obi-Wan queried.

"Oh, I have an assignment. The new Senator assigned to Tython to overlook the requirements of the GAR and act as liaison between the Order and the Senate will be arriving in the next half an hour. I have to go make sure the Senator settles in comfortably and feels at home. I believe it's my duty as a Jedi Master, to extend the Order's hospitality to the Republic's members.", Anakin said, smirking.

"…."

"…."

"You're just going to spend the rest of the day in your chamber with Padme, aren't you?"

"Ah, you got me, Master. Seriously, beard or not, you're as wise as ever."

"Shut up."

Anakin merely chuckled and headed out towards the Temple's hangar.

* * *

 **(Korriban, The Tomb of Tulak Hord)**

Darth Sidious walked through yet another tunnel that led even deeper into the tomb of some Sith Lord, absent-mindedly blasting lightning at some creature that leapt out at him from the shadows, fear settling into his stomach. The ghoulish abominations that resided in the tomb, the suffocating Dark Side energy and the various traps within the tomb itself; None of these even bothered him. No, the reason he actually felt afraid was because of his impending meeting with his Master, who despised weakness and detested failure. He was not pleased when the part of his spirit latched on to Sidious' mind saw his failure at decimating the Jedi, and now had ordered him to come to him.

To that end, Sidious walked into the antechamber at the lowest level of the tomb fearfully. The antechamber was square-shaped, with a raised path leading from the entrance towards the centre, where on a raised dais, stood an ancient relic, that pulsated with power. The relic was a tablet that stood on a casket, the Sith Code engraved onto it. As Sidious walked towards it, a Presence rushed in towards the tablet, settling visibly around it in a dark shape that looked like a cloud with a mask. He stalled and knelt a few paces from the tablet, acknowledging the Other's presence.

"Welcome back, my apprentice.", the Spirit said.

"Thank you, Master.", Sidious said, uncertainly. His Master's tone sounded anything but welcoming.

"I have viewed the events as they transpired through your mind, given how a part of my soul is attached to you. You have disappointed me, and failed. I let you go along with your own plans because you assured me they would work out, yet you stand before me, defeated spectacularly."

"My Master, it was a small mistake on my part. I underestimated the boy and he foiled my plans. If not for that, I-I'm sure I would have-.", Sidious stuttered.

"Silence! I did not call you here to grovel. You, the apprentice of the Sith Emperor, culmination of the Rule of Two, have been defeated by a mere boy! No excuse can cover up for your mistakes, and now, the boy is out of our reach. You have failed me for the last time.", the Spirit almost howled in reply.

"Please, Master, I beg you, let me try once again. I promise-"

Sidious's pleading rant was cut-off mid-sentence as the Presence rushed at him, slamming into him at full power. He felt his mind being torn to shreds as he screamed and clawed at the ground, trying to rid himself of the Spirit that was invading into his mind, but against a power so vast, he was almost defenseless. Less than ten seconds later, peace settled over the chamber as Sidious stopped thrashing abruptly.

Shakily, he got to his feet and spoke, in a much deeper and gravelly tone.

"The vessel I wanted would have been much more powerful, immortal even, but no matter, I will make do for now. I have trained you for this very purpose, to be my back up host, in case your plans failed. Little did you know that most of your feats and the increase in your strength was because of me. Now, I will set forth my own machinations and in time, the Galaxy will once again know me as the new Sith Emperor."

He pulled on his hood, his eyes now glowing purple, radiating power and malice, as he made his way back out of the tomb. 'Darth Sidious' no longer existed, but He would still carry that name, till the time he got his intended vessel, the one born of the Force, with almost unlimited Force potential.


	8. Peace, of any kind, is a Lie

**A/N 1: Okay, wow, it's been a while, I know. My life, for the past three months, has been a roller coaster, and I've had struggles on many fronts, one of them being unable to sit down and write to my heart's content.**

 **Anyway, now that I've put all of that behind me, I'm sure I can manage more frequent uploads. The next ones will NOT take this long, I guarantee.**

 **Special mention to ThunderSphinx for the amount of interest you've displayed, alongside concern. It's truly appreciated. Keep reading and reviewing, my friend**

 **Also, beta cookies to Anand891996. Thanks, mate :D**

 **Replies to reviews:**

 **ob1292: I'm not giving the Sith any extra powers. All of these, and much more powerful abilities have been utilized in Legends/EU.**

 **Guest: Dude. The ENTIRETY of the 3rd and 4th Chapters have been dedicated to specifying why Anakin's rank was upgraded to Supreme Commander from Jedi General. I don't understand how you missed that. Please re-read those chapters. It's all right there. Also, there's a difference between 'Commander' and 'Supreme Commander'.**

 **Edit (13/1/2018)**

 **Guest: Hutts are hermaphrodites. They reproduce asexually, and can 'change' their gender at will. Please check your facts before stating things like 'You screwed up'.**

 **As always, please review and let me know what you like/dislike and if there's anything you'd like to read about in my story. PM with your queries. I'd love to answer them.**

 **May The Force Be With You. Always.**

* * *

Chapter 8

 **(Tython, Jedi Temple Training Grounds)**

Commander Rex stuffed the Datapad containing the Mission details into his pack as he walked down the steps at the entrance of the Jedi Temple. Slinging the pack over his back, he surveyed the squad of Troopers assembled in front of him, stacking up on weaponry and performing final checks. They had been briefed with the mission details an hour ago, and everyone knew their part well.

This was going to be the first ever direct confrontation after the Jedi resettled on Tython.

Discontent and anger amongst the Flesh Raiders had been on the rise ever since the Jedi started reclaiming lands belonging to them a few months ago, but they had been wary enough to never attack directly, being well aware of what the Jedi were capable off. Still, the number of skirmishes was on the rise as the more and more land was being scouted and reclaimed, prompting the native species into action. Now, they had brought a bulk of their force to the Jedi Forge and almost slaughtered the entire Trooper squad stationed outside it, forcing the Jedi to plan a strike mission in order to retake one of the most holy lands to the Order.

Hence, the Tython's Gauntlet was to retake the Forge by force at the break of dawn. A team of Jedi were also following as backup if needed, but, given the training the Clones had been put through, it was deemed not necessary to send a Jedi with the forward assault squad.

Holstering his blaster pistols after checking their barrels, Rex turned to the squad.

"Alright, men, we fly out in five minutes. The transport will drop us right at the entrance to the Forge, as we believe the Flesh Raiders don't have any anti-air weaponry. Expect heavy fire as soon as we land, and be wary. These monsters look like dumb brutes, but they have enough ability to lay traps and squeeze a trigger faster than they can think. Helmets on, and set your frequency channel to 3."

The troopers responded with an affirmative and there were multiple clicks as the helmets slotted into space. They slung their equipment across their backs and jogged to the two LAAT/i transports waiting some distance away, engines on the ready.

Ten minutes of flying later, Rex hailed the squad over the comlink and summarized the mission details.

"…Finally, Delta and Omega squads are on Assault and melee. Switch on my command. Keep your channels open at all times. Got it?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Alright, men, time to show these brutes who they're messing with."

There were no sounds of an imminent battle of any kind as the transport landed in front of the Forge's entrance. The troopers disembarked immediately and took up position to return fire as planned, but, to their amazement, the clearing, all the way up to the staircase leading up to the Jedi Forge chamber, was empty. There were signs of inhabitants, but it looked like they had cleared out.

"What, did we catch them by surprise, or did they beat a retreat when they found out we were coming?"

"Not sure, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Shall we do a scan for life forms, Sir?"

"No, that's pointless here. Apparently the Force flows so thickly here, it distorts scans. You'll just end up seeing life forms everywhere. Still, keep your guard up and move forward. Team 2, you stay here and provide cover if necessary", Rex said.

"Cover? From what?"

"I'm not sure, but there's something off. I can't quite put my finger on it. Forward squad, move out!"

The troopers immediately sprang into action. Squad 2 took up sniper position at the entrance, while Squad 1 ran out into the clearing, triggers on the ready, in a tight circle. Rex himself led from the front, keeping his eyes open for any movement, while moving towards the Forge itself.

It happened when they were halfway to the clearing. That's when it hit Rex, and that's exactly when all hell broke loose.

"The ground… There was supposed to be grass here! It's too barren and uneven", he said, realization hitting him. "It's a trap! Scan the ground for heat–"

Before he could complete the sentence, figures rose out of the ground in all directions. The Flesh Raiders, given their tough skin and animalistic nature, could bury beneath grounds and hide inside for long periods, and they had used this ability of theirs to the fullest extent, burying a bulk of their forces.

"Oh, Shit."

"Open fire!"

"Watch your backs!"

"There's too many of them! To the- *Ack*"

"Shit, we've got three troopers down!"

If not for his recent training at the hands of the Jedi and the years of experience under Anakin Skywalker's unconventional form of leadership that granted him the ability to think on his feet, Rex would've been unable to stop this massacre.

Hence, without losing his cool, he yelled directions to the troops all the while dodging and returning fire.

"Troopers on the outside, get low and spread out! Use the holes dug up by them for cover! Squad 2, take out as many of them as you can and clear us a path back to you. Delta, Omega, switch to melee and force them back!"

Within the span of a minute, the situation that was ideally a slaughter, evened out. The Flesh Raiders still had huge numbers, but the clones outweighed them massively in skill.

"We might actually be able to pull through. No one seems to be panicking and these things are easy targets because of how slow they are", Rex thought, rolling away from the line of fire of a blaster. He came up on one knee, turned and shot the brute right through his head, not even wasting a second before moving on to the next target.

If it was one thing he had learnt under Commander Skywalker, it was that never test your luck. The instant he thought it was going to work out, the Flesh Raiders sprung their next surprise.

Rex heard the distinct thrum of a lightsaber being activated and rotated on the spot to locate the source of the noise, thinking the Jedi backup had arrived. He however, felt his hackles rise as he saw a massive seven foot tall Raider stand with a saber in one hand and lift a trooper into the air and smash him into a tree using the Force.

"Bloody hell… That thing is a Force wielder!"

"Sir, this is Boss! Niner and I will hold him off. Rest of you, retreat! There's a path clear to the entrance now!"

"No! That's suicide!", Rex shouted.

"Commander, that thing will slaughter us if we stay out here. It's the only way!"

Rex knew they were right and nodded to them. He watched as the duo ran up to the Force-wielding Flesh Raider and engaged it in melee combat. Between their enhanced clone commando abilities and training, alongside their experiences together, they proved skillful enough to make the beast have to focus its attention on them, halting its advance. It even grunted in pain when Boss found an opening and slammed his vibroblade into the beast's chest.

Covering the clones who were falling back, Rex retreated as fast as he could, knowing that there were still too many Raiders for them to take out. Making Squad 2 cover his retreat, he turned and ran to the entrance, all the while shooting at any Flesh Raiders trying to get a shot at the two clone commandos fighting the lightsaber-wielding beast.

He was almost at the entrance when it happened. Bleeding in two locations, the beast roared furiously and slammed Niner with a Force blast in the chest at point blank range. The said clone flew fifteen meters backward and slammed into the ground, unconscious before he came to a rest. Without having a teammate, Boss was suddenly overwhelmed. Having the pressure of two opponents taken away, the beast now far outclassed the remaining clone in terms of strength and let loose a powerful smash with the saber. Boss stumbled as he caught the blow on his blade. Without a moment of hesitation, the Flesh Raider kicked out and sent his sprawling, his weapon clattering out of his hand.

Sensing victory, the beast reared its head and bellowed, standing tall above the prone clone struggling to get to his feet.

"NO!"

A moment later, the beast swung its lightsaber at Boss's neck.

Before the saber could connect, however, Boss flew backwards, as if on a zip line and landed near where Niner was still unconscious, and the saber plunged into the earth. All sounds of battle ceased in amazement as a figure seemed to almost fall out of the sky right between the saber-wielding Flesh raider and the two clones.

"Jedi…", the beast spat.

"Hey Ugly! Strictly ability-wise, why don't you pick on someone your own size?", the figure said, igniting a gray lightsaber.

"Commander Skywalker…"

"Rex, get Boss and Niner out of here. I'll handle this one and then lead the assault. Squad 2, stay where you are and provide cover. All of you remaining clones, back me up and charge! FOR THE REPUBLIC!"

The clones roared in approval and ran out, blasting everything that stood in their path as they took up spots wherever they could find cover. Anakin's command usually bolstered the spirit of every troop under his command, primarily because of his Force-enhanced charisma and also due to his effective tactics. His powerful presence served as a morale booster for his troops.

Anakin himself strode towards the saber-wielding Flesh Raider, casually batting any bolts fired his way back at their respective owners. The beast roared and charged, swinging the saber in a two-handed grip from above its head, looking to cleave the Jedi in half. Anakin effortlessly side-stepped and swung his saber upwards, cutting the beast's hands right off, before following it up with a Force-enhanced punch that sent the Flesh Raider sprawling. The beast's saber skittered a few meters away and shut off when it fell out of its grip.

"That was a lousy display. Can't see what all the fuss was about", Anakin stated blandly, before slamming the beast's head with a Force blast, knocking it out. With that handled, he straightened up, surveying the scene around him.

There were still a large number of Raiders around, shooting at the Clones near the entrance, but they seemed to be making a last ditch effort. The Clones were making a stand on their own, not losing numbers anymore, and advancing slowly.

Seeing their "ultimate weapon" go down at the hands of the Jedi, about a dozen or so Flesh Raiders around him snarled, dropping their blasters and pulling out training sabers and vibroblades, and rushed him from all directions.

Having observed Delta and Omega fight them from a distance, he realized these natives had barely any technique and just relied on their brute strength to try and bludgeon their opponent. His observation proved true, as they just blindly rushed him, hoping to get a hit in amidst all the commotion.

Fighting a Jedi Knight or Master in melee combat was usually the most stupid and suicidal idea in the Galaxy. Owing to their enhanced senses and abilities, along with battle precognition, they were almost unbeatable, unless someone got lucky or was a Force-user. Neither of which these particular Raiders were.

Anakin sheathed his saber, and noted the distances between him and the oncoming opponents. He wanted to get this battle over quickly and with as less loss of life as possible, and having witnessed the low morale of the enemy, he realized their wills would break if another show of power was made. He preferred to not kill anyone, forget all of them.

Raising his right hand, he concentrated the Force in his fist, almost to the point of rupture, and then slammed it downwards. The ball collided with the earth and exploded, sending a wave of force outwards with him as the epicenter. The wave neatly slammed into every single onrushing Flesh Raider and threw them twenty feet backwards, knocking them out.

The explosion and the wave caught everyone's attention, and the shooting ceased as everyone took in the scene. The remaining few Flesh Raiders immediately backed up and fled as fast as they could, seeing a bulk of their forces effortlessly ragdolled by a single opponent.

"Let them go. They're beaten, and they know it. It was a last ditch effort and even though it cost us good men, I'm sure this will be the last time. They'd dare not go up against us anymore.", Anakin said, signaling the clones to stand down.

"Damn it. We lost a lot of good soldiers today. Those beasts don't deserve to live for what they did."

"I understand, Rex. Still, hunting a species to extinction is not the solution. I'm confident they will not interfere with our activities anymore."

"I understand, Sir."

"Anyway, how are Boss and Niner?"

"Niner's still unconscious and is suffering from a few broken ribs, a shattered collarbone and trauma due to a head injury. He needs medical care, and I've already signaled for his extraction. Boss has a mild concussion, but he's okay, and is with the remaining Commando squads."

"Alright. How many men did we lose?"

"Too many. Eight casualties from Squad 1, and two from Squad 2. If not for you, Commander, I fear it would've been way more."

"It was a mistake on the part of the Jedi in charge of this operation to not send Jedi alongside your team. I hurried over as soon as I was informed that you had departed without one."

"Yeah, never hurts to have an almost unbeatable being on your side.", Rex said.

Anakin cracked half a smile and turned to the unconscious Flesh Raiders. A few of them were stirring, but none had gotten up.

"Rex, with me. We need to restrain that Force sensitive Flesh Raider. There's something off about it. This species is not supposed to be able to wield the Force, at all."

Pistols in hand, Rex walked alongside Anakin to where the comatose Raider lay. Anakin lifted it up using the Force after slapping on binders on what was left of it's forearms, while Rex picked up the fallen lightsaber gingerly.

"Alright, I've got my own speeder that I rode on my way here. I need to take this one to the Temple. You get all your men out of here and get them checked up for injuries. You all need your rest."

"Copy that, Sir. I'll report for debriefing in four hours and send you a report."

"Take care, Rex ol' boy.", Anakin said as he made his way to his speeder parked some distance downhill from the entrance, all the while towing the floating body.

After dumping the Flesh Raider unceremoniously into the BARC speeder's side car, he hit the ignition and sped off towards the Temple, brows furrowed in thought.

It was a matter of consternation, as Flesh Raiders were not supposed to be able to wield the Force, as far as he had read about them. The SCARS had never encountered a single Force wielding being apart from the Jedi on Tython either. The way the Force flowed through the Flesh Raider also felt off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it didn't seem natural, the way the beast had wielded the Force.

Anakin felt there was more to it than met the eye.

"Another Council meeting, then. This is important, and a little more knowledge might light our way if we jointly investigate it."

He switched his wrist communicator on and hailed Obi-Wan.

"Anakin? How did the mission go?"

"It was much more serious than we anticipated, Master. I have some rather disturbing news. Please call the Council into session an hour from now."

"That serious?", he paused. Not waiting for a reply, he continued "Alright. Are you okay, though? And the clones?"

"I'm alright. We lost quite a few troopers, but the majority made it through."

"Damn it, that wasn't supposed to happen. Alright, get back to the Temple. I will see you within the hour. Obi-Wan out."

The sun rose steadily into the sky as Anakin opened the throttle on his speeder, gunning it in the direction of the Temple. This was going to be a long day, he could feel it.

* * *

 **(Concordia, Mandalore's moon; Outer-Rim Territories)**

Lord Maul entered the frequency of the locator beacon at the camp of the Death Watch faction under his command into his Navicomputer as his Starship entered the atmosphere above Concordia, Mandalore's only moon. The trip through hyperspace had been largely uneventful and had seemed to stretch on forever. He had felt a slight tremor in the Force during one of his spars with a training dummy on the ship, but had attributed it to be nothing. He had to be focused on the task at hand, and could not afford to let his Master down.

The triangulated coordinates showed up and Maul locked the Auto-pilot on, moving to the cargo hold where he had left his chestplate and lightsaber. Donning his armor, he clipped his saber to his waist and waited by the exit ramp for the ship to land. The Death Watch had a policy of shooting down any craft that flew too close to their camp, as the moon was uninhabited and hence, was mostly not an accidental flyby. Still, he was not bothered as they were well aware of his personal ship, and wouldn't dare to open fire.

The ship shuddered to a halt and the ramp lowered with a hydraulic hiss. Maul walked down the ramp, arms clasped at the back, to see a dozen or so Death Watch troopers, fully armed to the teeth with their guns trained on him. The instant they recognized him, the one in the front wearing Mandalorian Super Commando armor raised a fist and holstered his pistols, the others following suit.

"Lord Maul, welcome back to Concordia. I'm pleased to inform you that we have good news to report about the situation on Mandalore."

"That is of no concern anymore. Pack up here and take your troops to the coordinates I send you. I need you mobilized within the day."

"What? But we have finally -"

His sentence was abruptly cut off as Maul thrust out his arm and grabbed the Commando in a Force choke. He rose into the air, clawing at his throat and kicking his legs wildly, unable to breathe.

Seething, Maul looked the Mandalorian in the eye (or, at least where he thought his eyes were, through the visor) as he brought him close to his face and said, "I did not ask you for your opinion. It was an order. Shut up and follow it, or I'll relieve you of your command. Permanently."

Maul dropped the man like a sack of bantha dung and turned to face the remaining soldiers.

"All of you are being summoned to train and be a part of a new army, one to rival the Grand Army of the Republic. An army belonging to the new Sith Empire. You all serve the Sith now, and there is no issue of more importance than wiping the Republic and the Jedi off the face of this Galaxy. I want all of you off this planet by nightfall. Anyone tries to escape, well, I will hunt you down, personally."

There were barely any complaints as the various Death Watch commandos bobbed their heads in acknowledgment and sped off towards their various camp quarters.

If there was one thing the Mandalorians respected, it was might. Having won his battle against Pre Vizsla, he had gained respect of all those who had witnessed his duel and acknowledged his command. If not for that upstart Bo Katan, he would've had the entire Death Watch power under his command, but she had escaped with a lot of soldiers, and even rescued that Jedi scum Kenobi from right under his nose.

She was going to pay for it. One day.

For now, he had to head to his next destination: Mustafar, the fortress that acted as the Headquarters of the Black Sun. Within the next few days, he would have the bulk of his original Shadow Syndicate mobilized and united under one banner again. That of the Sith Empire.

* * *

 **(The Dark Council Chamber, Sith Academy; Korriban)**

Vitiate, now posing as Darth Sidious, sat on his throne in the Dark Council chamber, deep in meditation. Before losing his physical body all those thousands of years ago, he had a massive network of spies, talismans and artifacts throughout the Galaxy that helped him maintain power and destroy the enemy in a way they would never expect. All of his former allies, and enemies, were dead, so he would have to rebuild his network once again. He was immortal, yes, but his Empire was not. This time, he would make it so, by wiping the Republic out. Time was something he had, and hence, he was going to do this at a pace that would ensure his victory and leave no gaps. The Jedi would get what was coming to them, and that boy born of the Force, Skywalker, would be his vessel. A power that immense had to be turned, or it would become problematic eventually.

Still, he had to check up on his remaining artifacts and talismans to see how many were still operable. As long as his spirit was alive, he knew they would still be working as he was connected to them through the Force, unless someone had somehow destroyed them.

He bolstered his mental probes and sent them spanning throughout the Galaxy, searching for the tell-tale signatures of his artifacts. He found a majority of them to be missing, as he had expected. It had been a few thousand years after all. Still, a lot of the major ones were still active, and pulsated when he bolstered their strength through the Force.

He was compiling the various locations mentally when he suddenly paused.

"Interesting… There's an artifact on a planet I had never expected it be on. It has even experienced continued usage. I wonder..."

He focused his attention on to that one particular artifact and brought it's memories forth.

When he bound an artifact to him through a Dark ritual, he imbibed it with his own Force signature, which collected the events as they transpired in the Force around it. These 'collections' could be perceived as memories and viewed by the person to whom the artifact was bound. As they had no moving parts and were virtually undetectable, they made for the best "spies", unwavering in their loyalty and completely efficient.

The only drawback they had was that they could be easily detected by a Force user.

Which was exactly why he was unable to surmise as how this particular artifact in question had ended up on the planet it was on, and how exactly it had managed to stay hidden for so long.

It was when he actually reviewed the recent memories did he realize what exactly he had stumbled upon. It was also unbelievable that at this very moment, it was in the hands of his quarry, they very person he had absolutely no idea as to how to get close to.

Well, this artifact would definitely prove useful. If nothing else, it would let him at least analyze the strength of his enemy. It had been just a few days since he had assumed power, and things were already falling into place. Vitiate smiled to himself.

* * *

 **(Jedi Temple entrance, Tython)**

Anakin paused and his brows furrowed again. There it was again, the weird pulsation emanating from the downed Flesh Raider. He had first felt it during the ride back to the Temple and had disregarded it as a figment of his imagination, and it had happened twice more in regular intervals, deepening his worries.

This time however, he was sure he had felt it, like a ripple in the Force. The damn thing was supposed to be unconscious! Given how the pulsations were periodic, it eerily reminded him of a beacon of sorts. If so, what was it signaling, and to whom?

Thoughts churned in his head, ideas forming as he floated the beast into the Jedi Council chambers. Noticing the other Masters already present, he briefly bowed and then levitated the body onto the table in the centre of the room. Plo Koon and Kit Fisto straightened up at that, but no one said anything, silently signaling him to continue.

He gave a brief report of battle statistics, and paused, to emphasize his next statement.

"The reason I had to intervene, Masters, was not because of the tactics of the Flesh Raiders or anything of the sort. It was, in fact, this particular beast. As you can see, it is much larger than the typical Flesh Raider, which singled it out as the leader, but again, that's not just why. The matter of consternation, in fact, is the weapon it wielded.", he said, producing the lightsaber the beast had dropped after battle from his belt.

"Also, it is a Force-wielder."

There were audible gasps at that, as it their collective knowledge knew that to be factually impossibe.

"Another matter that concerns me is, as no doubt you all must have already felt it, the weird pulsations that seem to keep emanating from this thing, even though it is not in a conscious state. I feel something else is at work here, and that the beast did not get the ability to wield the Force due to evolution."

"Master Koon, an adept at interrogation and Force powers of the mind, you are. Suggest that you give the beast a once-through, I do.", Yoda said without pause, stroking his chin slowly.

Plo Koon simply rose from his chair and walked around the table, giving the body a once over. Then, he came to a rest at where the head of the beast lay, and raised an arm downward turn palm towards the head, lifting the body into the air with the Force.

Silence reigned for a few minutes as Master Koon, eyes closed in meditation, enveloped the beast in the Force and extended his senses, while the others watched on tersely.

Finally, sighing, he lowered the body back on to the table and bent over it, digging his long, nailed fingers under it's breastplate. He undid the latches and pulled the covering off, dropping the plate to one side, as Anakin and Obi-Wan rose to take a look.

"It is as I suspected.", Plo Koon said, pointing at a large purple colored crystal embedded into the beast's chest, right below it's sternum. "It has a Sith Talisman embedded into it."

"Disturbing, this news is, and most unfortunate. Tell us more about this Talisman, can you, Master Koon?"

"Yes. As far as I can see, this particular Talisman has been inside this beast for a long time, probably since its birth, leading to enhanced physical growth and the ability to wield the Force. The power, is hence not its own, but derived from this trinket. Talismans like these are usually made through rituals which involve blood and sacrifice. I'm not sure about what exactly the process involves, and neither can I guess as to the point of these trinkets, but it's definitely nothing good. I'm sure all of you can sense the 'Evil' intent it seems to broadcast."

"Yes, I've noticed the talisman feels malicious in the Force. I'm guessing it can't be sensed by someone who's not Force sensitive?" Obi-Wan ventured.

"That is correct, Master Kenobi. To a normal being, it would just appear as any other relic."

"Master Koon, if I may, I have an idea about the purpose of this relic. I would like to observe it through the Force, under your presence." Anakin said, seemingly lost in thought.

"What do you have in mind, Master Skywalker?"

"Firstly, the evil intent of this talisman was almost indistinguishable from that of the beast's during the time it was conscious. It was during my ride back to the Temple, when I first felt the pulsation, that I could distinguish the talisman's Force signature distinctly. It's almost as if….. I really hope I'm wrong about this, but it's almost as if it has a consciousness of it's own. I would like to ascertain that, and for that, I have a plan, but I need the help of someone well versed in the Mind arts."

Silence reigned in the Council chamber at the revelation. The Jedi has just begun restructuring the Order after the entire mishap on Coruscant, and it felt like they were being thrust into yet another compromising situation. This was the beginning of something big, and they could all feel it.

"Let us take the beast to my chamber, Master Skywalker. There, we shall try and find out all we can about this trinket."

About half an hour later, Skywalker was seated at the head of the beast's body, that lay on the carpeted floor of Plo Koon's chamber in the Jedi Temple. Master Koon himself stood behind Anakin, cross-armed.

"What you are proposing is dangerous, Skywalker. It takes a lot of practice and time to be able to attempt what you are going to."

"We don't have time, Master. If there's one thing I believe in, it's that things happen for a reason. It isn't co-incidence that led us to this talisman. Still, the risks are why I asked you along. Also, you will find me less susceptible to any form of Force-induced trauma."

"The Force does work in mysterious ways, I agree. Okay, I will try my best to guide you from here. You know what you have to do?"

"Well, I have a hunch.", he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Anakin drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Here goes nothing."

He reached out with the Force towards the beast and the talisman, making it flow outwards from him in a gentle wave. His Force 'wave' seemed to almost glide over the beast's body, as directed by him. When it reached the talisman, he made it flow in and around it, trying to separate the chaotic aura around it from that of the Flesh Raider. One by one, he undid the various ways the trinket had latched on to the beast's Force signature. Some places, he realized, it was too intertwined, and he had to sever the connection.

It took him a few minutes, but he felt he had finally separated the two of them completely, at least in the Force. The talisman now had a very distinct signature, one that could attribute to the anomalies in the Flesh Raider, given how it had been pretty much embedded into the latter's chest.

Anakin also realized that he had been right earlier on. Every time he had severed a connection between the Talisman and its host, he had felt a discernible jolt emanate from the talisman itself, almost like it was reacting in pain to the way he cut the connection.

Well, he had to find out more, and there was only one way about it. Slowly, he probed the Talisman through the Force.

* * *

 **(Dark Council Chamber, Sith Academy; Korriban)**

 _"Interesting."_ , Sidious said to himself, _"The boy is much stronger than I had expected. That fool Sidious had really underestimated him. And sadly for them, so are the Jedi. They have no idea what he will become capable of. He will truly make a powerful host. This is the strength I need to achieve immortality."_

* * *

 **(Plo Koon's Meditation Chamber, Jedi Temple, Tython)**

The talisman had formidable defenses in the form of a Force shield, quite similar to the way minds of beings were shielded to prevent a Force-sensitive from reading thoughts.

Anakin was, hence, unable to gather much from it by just probing it from the surface. Instead, he drew back a bit, concentrated his Force-probe into the shape of a blade and slammed it downwards. The 'shell' around the Trinket cracked on impact.

He drew back and tried to perceive the crack, seeing that it rapidly healed itself back to its original form once the offensive pressure was removed. He realized it would be extremely hard for him to smash through the shield given how thick it seemed, and hence decided on a slightly improvised alternative. Mustering more strength into the blade-shaped Force-probe, he slammed it back down on the same location. This time, however, the shield broke in that one region, leaving a small gap.

In an instant, he changed his probe to the same wave form he had utilized before, and slipped through the defenses.

Such a blunt way of forcing into a person's mind would have rendered the victim comatose and senseless. A person could lose his sanity if he were to be probed in the same way, but as this was just a talisman, Anakin did not have to be subtle about it. Mind tricks were only problematic when there were minds involved, which was not the case here.

The downside to it was that he had to maintain the crack in the shield open to be able to return his consciousness to his own mind. A living being would be unable to close the crack once he was inside, primarily because the instant he was in, he would be the one in control of their mind, and also because the pain one experienced when their mental shields were torn down were too great to be able to think rationally, let alone push anyone out of their heads. Unfortunately, as this was a non-living object, they could heal fast, as he had observed before. They drew on the living Force that flowed through them, while living beings drew on their own connection to the Force. The stronger the living being was, the faster it could heal it's shields, till the time they ruptured.

This was exactly the reason why he had asked for Plo Koon's assistance. The Master immediately prevented the shield from healing itself by imposing his will upon it. He just had to keep the crack open till Anakin could find out everything about the talisman and pull his consciousness back to himself.

Anakin's conscious form swam forward, feeling his way through the murky Force presence.

An instant later, the entire surrounding solidified into an almost realistic scene.

Anakin, or at least an astral projection of himself stood inside the entrance of a cave that led deeper into the earth. He turned around and saw just a blinding white light, one that did not recede to reveal any surroundings even when he stepped towards it.

"What is this?", he wondered aloud, mostly to himself. He really wasn't expecting an answer to that, and almost jumped in shock when a disembodied voice floated back to him, seemingly out of nowhere.

"This is your quest, Young One. The answers you seek lie ahead. You must complete it, alone. Do so, and you will find what you are looking for. The path ahead will not be easy, and you must look deeper, if you are to find your way out. Your Master cannot help you; no one can. Fail the quest, and you will die, and not just in here."

He looked around for the source, and finding none, he yelled out at random. "Okay, why exactly is there dying involved? I was just reading thoughts, more or less. Can I just get back to that?"

His question went unanswered, so he ventured again. "What must I do, O Mysterious One?"

"You must look deeper, and you will find what you are looking for.", the answer came.

"I don't even know what I'm looking for!"

"Look deeper…", the voice said once again, and faded into silence, and Anakin realized he wasn't going to be getting anymore answers.

 _"Great, I'm being sent on a quest, which I absolutely have no idea as to what it is, by a voice that enjoys speaking in riddles. I should've let Obi-Wan do this. Those two would've become best pals, I'm sure."_


	9. A Passion for Dreams

**A/N 1: Well, an update as soon as I could muster, with what, my work and everything. I really went out on a limb on this one. Needless to say, all elements are now pretty deviant from Canon/EU, with a lot of Original concepts that I've actually thought plausible at various times.**

 **I hope you guys like this one too.**

 **PLEASE, review and let me know what you like/don't like. PM for any queries, as always.**

 **Reply to reviews:**

 **Koelmi: Order 65 is actually Canon and a part of the original set of Contingencies the Clone Army was created with. I didn't make it up.**

 **May The Force Help You Never Go Back On Your Word, Dattebayo!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **(Mind Space of the Sith Talisman; Jedi Temple, Tython)**

Anakin Skywalker was as tired and annoyed as one could be, spiritually speaking. Not only did the "Voice" not answer any of his questions in a helpful manner, but it also seemed to insult him now by sending hordes of creatures at him that he banished without a second thought. If it was supposed to be a quest, it might as well be a little bit challenging, but no, the said governing Presence seemed bent on teaching him it's own version of the Jedi's 'Patience is a virtue' rote. He was thoroughly irritated, and the next time the presence made itself known, he was going to make sure he gave it a piece of his mind.

After the Voice had first told him to complete his "Quest" to obtain "answers to all his questions" and such, he just sighed to himself, accepted his ridiculous fate and started making an inventory of his options and finding out more about his surroundings, something that had been drilled into his head as a Padawan by Obi-Wan Kenobi. The first thing that he checked for, and was relieved to find, was that he had his lightsaber.

Out of sheer curiosity, he switched on the blade and brought it close to his hand. "Oh, what the heck, I'm a mind projection anyway. None of my own constructs should be able to hurt me.", and slashed it across his hand. As he expected, the blade passed straight through, without leaving a mark on him. Next, he swung it at a rock outcrop and saw that it sliced clean through.

"Right, no friendly fire. That should make things easier."

Apart from his saber, he only had his Jedi robes on himself. He could channel the Force, obviously, as he was basically in a Force construct. Squaring his shoulders, he peered into the depths of the cave and said to himself, "Well, let's see about this quest now, shall we?"

Even though it all looked real enough, it was still very surreal to him. The air was absolutely still, for one, and he realized that he was not really breathing either. Drowning wasn't going to happen, then. Irrespective of how much further he went, he could see a few feet in front of him at all times, not more, not less. Once again, out of the sheer number of repetitions, Obi-Wan's advice called out to him: "When you think your senses are deceiving you, trust in the Force. Let it guide you."

Well, it was time to take that advice literally.

As he was in a completely Force based construct with no physical body, Anakin found it very easy to extend his senses beyond his physical self. The Force that flowed around him also seemed to augment his senses, making it easy for his presence to flow outward. He extended his senses and felt the path ahead of him, realizing at the same time that he had probably passed some kind of initial test when the way ahead seemed to almost light up in response to his Force presence. He moved forward, idly wondering if this is how the Miraluka perceived things at all times. For one, he felt that this particular form of sensing was much more precise and detailed compared to his own eyes. He was able to take in every detail without having to pause and observe, unlike when he saw things with his eyes. He was also able to perceive Force signatures for all things around him, and how the Force flowed in and around them.

Shaking his head, he refocused himself on to the path in front of him. The Force-sight bore investigation, but he could try that later when he was back in his own body. He was on a clock here.

"Well, if that was part one of my test, part two should be showing up after this.", he thought to himself.

From somewhere ahead of him, a deep roar emanated.

Anakin really hated his luck.

Lightsaber in hand, he forged ahead, all the while making sure to observe his surroundings as best he could in order to prevent falling into any traps.

The tunnel finally opened up into a wide cavern, more than half of which was occupied by a clear lake. Many stalagmites rose up from the ground, and stalactites to meet them, giving a very real and eerie feeling to the entire cavern.

Right between him and the lake stood a Disturbance, which Anakin realized was the source of the roar. As he strode towards it, it morphed into the shape of a Gundark and roared yet again.

"So, you're trying to feed off my fears. Well, nice try, but I've handled more corporeal Gundarks before."

Igniting his saber, he ran forwards just as the beast also started running in his direction. It lunged at him when he was in range and swept it's gigantic hands in a low arc, but Anakin simply leapt upwards and brought his saber down to impale it into the beast's head.

To his surprise, as soon as his saber touched the Gundark's skull, the beast promptly exploded into a cloud and morphed into shadows, fading from existence almost instantly. Warily, he looked around for other signs of danger, but not sensing any in the Force, he switched off his saber.

Peering around for an exit, Anakin's attention fell on the lake as his gaze crossed it. The giant body of water lay still as a mirror, sparkling for some reason. Realizing that the lake was not just decoration as he already knew that he could breathe underwater here, he strode forward and knelt at the edge of the water.

His confusion grew when he saw he could only see reflections and nothing of what lay under the surface. And yet, the lake seemed to call out to him. Perplexed, he reached out with a finger and touched the surface of the water.

The surface rippled, and the next instant he was yanked under into complete darkness. Before he could scream, or realize that he couldn't really be harmed by physics in here, he came to an abrupt halt, lying prone on a cold floor.

"Definitely not my favorite mode of transport. Flying is much better."

Anakin heaved himself up and looked up, trying to adjudge exactly how he had fallen here, but all he could perceive was darkness. Even Force-sight didn't either extend that far, or something was preventing him from sensing anything about. Realizing the futility of it, he set his sights down the (yet another) tunnel that he was in. This one seemed to be steeper than the last one, but wider.

His observations were cut short as he heard sounds of something, or things, scuttling along the tunnel floor. Yet again igniting his saber, he carefully walked forward, using Force-sight to watch for the source of said sounds.

This time, however, instead of one adversary, it proved to be a horde of Rakghouls. Anakin had never really seen these ghoulish creatures firsthand before, but he did know that a bite from an infected Rakghoul could infest any human and turn them into one, Force sensitive or not. He had a feeling that a bite from one of them, even in this non-corporeal state, would affect him adversely.

He slipped into a more defensive lightsaber form, as opposed to his usual, much more heavy utilization of Djem So, and sliced through the creatures before any got close enough, using his Force powers from time to time to give him some breathing space.

He made slow progress. Even though they posed no harm to him as he was way faster and stronger, and they also exploded into shadows on contact, it still started tiring him out mentally. He was also starting to get very annoyed, as he really didn't understand the point of this. All he had wanted to do was garner information about the nature of the Talisman, not play charades with some spirit and it's pets.

Another thing that bothered Anakin was that he had no idea about the amount of time he had actually spent in the mind-space. He knew for sure that if he didn't get back to his body soon, it would not bode well. A "mind" should never stay away from its original physical container for too long.

Seeing the next batch of creatures around the corner, Anakin gave up on taking them down one by one. Using the same trick he did back on Tython, he smashed an extremely condensed ball of Force into the ground, causing it to rupture and spread out in a Force wave, neatly dispersing all the incoming monsters.

He looked up at a vague point and shouted "Seriously, is that all or is there more of these pointless visions that you want to bother me with? No, really, just let me know now so I can decide on whether there actually is a point in going on."

He felt his awareness prickle as the same Presence from before made itself known.

 **"You lack patience. You must gain that first."**

"I lack my body too. I'd rather just gain that."

The Voice halted. Apparently, it was not used to people not falling at its feet in awe, in search of more knowledge. Well, Anakin didn't care. He was annoyed as it is, and didn't feel like continuing being anyone's pawn, let alone a disembodied voice trying to play supernatural. Well, two could play at that game.

The Voice spoke again. **"For a solution, you must look within yourself. Focus, not on your surroundings, but yourself. What do you see?"**

"How do you think Tuskens mate?"

For the first time, Anakin could literally see the meaning of 'having an air of confusion about you'. The entire air around him seemed confused, completely not expecting his reply.

 **"...What?"** , the Voice ventured, eloquence at its creative peak.

"You answer my questions with stupid riddles, so I decided to do the same. I don't have time or patience for your badgering. It's impossible for me to learn what I haven't all these years in such a short span. Tell me a way to find more information about the Talisman, else I'm out of here. I'm done with your stupid quest. I never liked RPGs, anyway. Racing was more my type."

The Voice seemed unsure on how to reply to him, and paused with possible consternation. Still, Anakin knew that the preaching types never shut up that easy, and so he probably had to sass the spirit, or whatever it was, until it acquiesced. At least it didn't seem outright hostile as of yet.

The air around him started thickening and moved towards a central point behind him, coalescing into a physical shape. The shape further solidified into a female humanoid figure, with proportions that would've left any other member of the same species gawking in disbelief, emitting a soft glow that was usually only associated with immortal and God-like beings.

Sensing the presence, Anakin whirled around, saber in hand and then paused.

The figure completely solidified into a form at the same moment and frowned, looking down.

 **"Did you just run me through with your saber?"** , in a rich-chocolatey feminine voice, that seemed to reverberate, like there were multiple beings speaking at the same time.

"Well, I have been only fighting monsters all this time, with zero encounters with friendly beings, so excuse me if I didn't recognize you as an ally from the back of my head. Not that it's doing any damage to you anyway."

 **"You could pull it out."**

Struggling to maintain a straight face at the ridiculous situation he was in, and the way the previous sentence was phrased, he replied, "No, I think I'll let it stay in, until you tell me exactly who you are and what you want."

The Presence simply took a step back out of the blade, unharmed. Anakin swung his saber back down to his side, but kept the blade switched on.

"So, it's decided on a face to face interaction. Or is it a confrontation?",Anakin thought, and then paused. "Right, you know you've been spending too much time with Padme when everything is either a diplomatic solution or an aggressive negotiation. Damn, I miss her."

The figure, meanwhile, just stood with folded arms and gave him a once-over.

"Sure, take your time, we've got all year."

 **"Chosen One, We are the Force."**

Anakin stumbled, his eyes widening. "Wha-? How? But-"

He paused, shook his head and then looked back up. "Explain. I find that rather hard to just accept."

 **"As you have come to believe, no doubt, the Force, or rather We, are a conscious being, collectively made up of the souls of every single being that has lived, is living and will live."**

"Okay, I'll bite. Why appear to me, though? And why this 'Quest' nonsense?", Anakin queried, realizing that it was best to gather as much information as possible before the being went back into riddle-spouting mode.

 **"Because you, are Our child."**

"...What?"

 **"Come now, you know you were born of the Force."**

"Yes, but... I thought that was an accident."

 **"An accident? No, all that transpires has been, and will be, the Will of the Force."**

"Right, someone has a very high opinion of themselves. For all that Will nonsense, she still never saw the saber coming."

The Presence continued, **"Your story started with a so-called Sith Lord, named Plagueis."** Anakin mentally groaned here. **"We know neither the Light, nor the Dark can survive without the other, but when one meddles with the balance, We set it right. Darth Plagueis wanted to become immortal and stop death, which is against nature and Our Will. All things must become One with the Force, and that is the only decree. When he started meddling with the secrets of immortality and failed, but in the process set forth a much more powerful and ancient evil, We decided to take action, and hence, you were created."**

"So, the Prophecy is true."

 **"The Prophecy of the Chosen One is an extension of our Will, passed down to the keepers of balance, the Jedi. It speaks of not just you, but every single being born of Us."**

"There have been others?"

 **"Yes, and you have met them. They were called the Ones. They were Our embodiment, until your arrival. The Ones were created the last time the Galaxy faced a huge peril, one that we fear has returned. The reason they were created, has returned to the Galaxy, and only you stand in its path. No pressure."**

"Great, no pressure. I'm reassured.", he said in a deadpan manner. "But still, why am I here?"

 **"You must grow much stronger if you are to beat this evil, and to become stronger, you must defeat your inner Demon. Face your fears."**

"I have an inner demon? Can't anything ever be simple?", he said, exasperated.

 **"You-"**

"That was rhetorical, don't answer that."

The Presence frowned at that.

 **"Irrespective, you must face your demon, and face it fast. Time is short. Ahead lies another cavern, with your final test. You must defeat what you have created."**

 _"Right, back in riddle mode. I suppose that was not too bad, though."_ , he thought, and then asked, "Will I find what I'm looking for?"

The Presence smiled and started turning misty, slowly fading from vision.

 **"The Force is always with You, Anakin Skywalker."**

"Great, thanks."

Turning around, Anakin saw that the previously long tunnel was now much shorter and he could see an archway some distance away. He strode forward mentally wondering what exactly he'd have to face ahead.

The archway led into a cavern much larger than the previous one. This one, like the other, had a pool at the far end, with the only exception that it was full of lava, rather than water. The heat from the molten lava was palpable, as he felt it all the way at the entrance, even in his astral form. There was one rocky platform in the middle of the molten lake, and on top of it, a Dark presence was gathered. Like a droid, his legs carried him towards the lake, his mind taking in the surroundings and the Dark presence's feeling.

It was then that Anakin had realization hit him. His creation, his demon. The surroundings. There was only one thing that actually terrified him. It wasn't the Sith, it wasn't some scary monsters.

It was him himself. The part of him that which wanted to defer to the future he had seen in the visions. Anakin looked up and gazed at the Dark presence that had now solidified

Sure enough, on the platform, stood a tall black-clad figure with a terrifying mask, wielding a red lightsaber, heavy mechanical breaths escaping it's voice box.

 **"Welcome, Anakin Skywalker, to your doom."** , the monstrosity said, in a heavy, raspy mechanical voice.

"You pose no threat to me, demon. I know who you are. What I can create, I can destroy too."

 **"Well then, good luck destroying yourself, weakling. What you see in front of you is one who has transcended morals and other such baseless virtues for true power. I am no longer Anakin Skywalker."**

Anakin's breath hitched in his throat, eyes widening as the being took a step forward and curled it's finger into a fist, it's Darkness in the Force now radiating in every direction.

 **"I am Darth Vader."**

* * *

 **(Dark Council Chamber, Sith Academy; Korriban)**

Vitiate's eyes flew open as he realized what was happening. Under no circumstances could the boy be allowed to find out about his relation to the Talisman. The boy's connection to it had to be cut, and the Talisman's mind-space had to be shielded once again.

To this end, he sunk into the Force, drawing in on the Dark side to augment his strength, and reached out to the Talisman again. To his surprise, he found he couldn't connect to it as well as he could before and his ability to remotely view through it and control other beings was being interfered with, by something elusive. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was blocking his connection, but it felt very familiar. Still, he had to get through, even if he had to brute force his way across the blockage.

Gathering his mental strength, he smashed the interference that he could perceive with a powerful blow, but the surface barely cracked. Vitiate realized time was something he didn't have, so he had to get through quick.

He drew in on the Force again, and pounded the Force construct once more.

* * *

 **(Talisman Mind-Space, Tython)**

Anakin stumbled backwards on hearing the words escape the malevolent being's mechanical mouthpiece, his mind reeling from the effects of facing something so Dark and malevolent from within himself.

Vader leapt towards him in that moment of insecurity, and crossed the entire lava lake in one jump. He swung his saber above his head, looking to cleave Anakin in half as he landed. Anakin barely managed to dodge and roll aside at the last moment.

Rising up to one knee, Anakin realized his movements were slightly sluggish because of the way his mind was still in shock, and also partly because of how powerful his opponent was in the Dark side. This power was, in terms of presence in the Force, much more powerful than Sidious had been, the last time they had fought in Coruscant. Anakin knew he had to get back in complete control and win this duel quickly, because drawing it out was not an option for him.

Today was apparently the day when all words of wisdom started making sense, as it was at this point that he understood what the Entity's words "Look within yourself" made sense. Without taking his eyes off Vader, who was advancing slowly yet surely and menacingly, Anakin felt the Force flow within himself.

Calm. Decisive. Powerful. Balanced.

He knew immediately he had succeeded, as his vision turned into Force-Sight once again, sharpening his vision and reflexes. Vader appeared Dark, with a capital 'D' to emphasize. Light seemed to distort and succumb to him as it neared his outline. Only a power strong enough to withstand such negativity could face him.

An equal and opposite power, being Anakin Skywalker himself.

Vader dashed forward and swung his saber at the kneeling Jedi, which the latter avoided by gracefully flipping over and igniting his saber. Anakin met Vader's next swing head on. The Sith was powerful and his blow felt like a bar of Mandalorian iron being swung, rather than a lightsaber, but Anakin was used to fighting opponents much stronger than him. To this end, he reinforce his body with the Force to augment his strength and speed.

The two swung their blades back and forth, exchanging blows and testing out each other's mettle. Anakin realized after a few strikes and parries that the Sith also used the same lightsaber form that he preferred, Djem So, to attack quickly, powerfully and decisively. He needed to gain the upper hand in this battle, and quickly, and a plan formulated in his mind.

Anakin deflected the next blow, rather than parrying or blocking it, using his opponent's much higher strength effectively against him, and saw Vader overreach, but pull back instantly, making the former grudgingly appreciate how good a duelist his opponent was. He took every opening and rarely left one.

His plan now set in his mind, Anakin thrust his saber forward in a powerful strike and Vader parried, flipping around and swiping at his head. Anakin ducked low and pressed his offensive, slashing his saber at the black-clad monster's chestplate, which Vader instantly defended against with a two-handed downward block. Not relenting or wanting to give his opponent some breathing space, Anakin feinted at his opponent's left, and then swung around and slashed towards his left leg, making Vader actually step backwards at the speed of the former's onslaught.

Anakin continued striking and parrying, pressing his attacks with a ferocity he had never before displayed in a duel, but his opponent was just as effective, given it was an incarnation of himself. Vader drew in on his rage and anger, fueling the strength and speed of his attacks. Still, neither of them gained any proper ground, but the stalemate was a furious one, both opponents getting nicked in various places. Any single slip or distraction, and it would mean the other's victory.

This is where Anakin's Force-sight helped him. His augmented vision helped him see the oncoming blows perfectly and block them with his full strength, and then attack at an undefended side. It also helped him analyze the strength of his opponent's blows, and hence, wait to spring his next move.

Anakin made sure his attacks and blocks were at his full power, making it seem like he wanted to win really quickly with a decisive blow. Hence, when Vader delivered an even more powerful than before, he never expected Anakin to not block.

Which is exactly what he did. He simply pulled his saber back and side stepped, rather than block, while at the same time gather the Force in his free hand. Vader's strike overreached, and he lost his balance, unable to pull back instantaneously unlike last time. Anakin simply slammed a Force Blast into his opponent's side, flinging him a good ten meters away, his lightsaber falling from his grip and skittering away. Unlike the previous monsters, however, he didn't disperse into shadows, but coughed and rose to his elbows.

Without losing a second, Anakin closed the distance between them, slashing upwards at the downed Sith. The latter pushed himself backward with unnatural speed, but the saber still cut through the helmet, leaving one half of his face exposed.

A face that looked absolutely nothing like Anakin now did, but had the very same eyes he did, except they were tinted yellow and red. The rest of the face seemed burnt, with no hair anywhere, including the part of the scalp he could see.

Before Vader could get back to his feet, Anakin drew in on his power and caught Vader with the Force, hold him in stasis, a foot off the ground. Vader struggled mightily, both physically and through the Force, but Anakin did not relent, preventing any sort of movement from the former. Vader eventually gave up trying to force his way through this and stared at Anakin hatefully, choosing to unsettle his opponent instead.

"The face worries you, I see. Would you like to know how that happened? It-"

 ***SMASH!***

The entire cavern shook as a massive blow struck at it, seemingly from an external source, drowning out Vader's words. Rocks were dislocated from the ceiling and fell downwards, while the entire cavern seemed to rock dangerously, as if hit by an earthquake.

Anakin's balance wavered and Vader broke his hold, landing on his feet. The cavern stabilized a moment later and Vader's eyes locked with Anakin's.

"It was because of betrayal, by none other than your own-"

 ***SLASH***

Vader's eyes widened in disbelief, and a moment later his head separated from his neck and fell apart, his body toppling a moment later.

"Keep your snake tongued lies to yourself, I have no need of it. You're an abomination, end of story.", Anakin said, gazing at the dead body of his own Sith form.

The body now dissolved into shadows, leaving behind a replica of the very same Talisman whose mind space he was inside.

 **"Well done, Chosen One. You have conquered your own fears and darkness, by primarily relying on your strength of balance. The Talisman's information is yours, but We fear time is short."** , the Presence's voice floated over from all around him.

 ***SMASH!***

The cavern shook yet again, this time much more powerfully, throwing Anakin off his feet.

"Wha-? What is that?"

 **"Quick, take the Talisman! All will be explained in eventuality! There is no time!"**

Anakin leapt forward, his hands closing around the trinket just as the cavern's walls collapsed all over and a Dark Presence rushed at him, one so vast that he was left absolutely defenseless against it's onslaught.

In less than two seconds of the walls collapsing, Anakin was forcefully thrown out of the mind space, his mind slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **(Dark Council Chamber, Sith Academy; Korriban)**

It was safe. There was no way the boy had learnt of anything related to him. His powers had not failed him and Vitiate had managed to rip the splinter of his soul from the Talisman before it could compromise anything. Sure, it meant that the Talisman was just some useless relic now, but it was better off that way. He had also learnt a lot about his opponent's strength.

This was turning out to be a very successful calculated risk.

* * *

 **(Somewhere in the recess of Anakin Skywalker's mind; Tython)**

Anakin woke from his unconscious state to realize he was still in Ghost mode.

"Whe- Where am I? What happened?", he voiced out loud to nothing in particular.

 **"You are back in your mind, my Child. The Presence you saw right before being thrown out was the Master of the Talisman, the very threat We spoke of earlier."**

"Who is that? How can I defeat it?"

 **"That is for you to find out. It is the purpose you were born for-... Oh, We see. You are as resourceful as ever."**

"Yeah.. Well, I'm not sure how, but in those two seconds I had access to the Talisman, I felt similar Force signatures across the Galaxy. And, well, that 'map' seems to be burned into my memory.", Anakin replied.

 **"You managed to use the incoming power to amplify the Talisman's Force signature, making other such relics around the Galaxy resonate. Well done. Our work is complete, and we will not test you again. Return to your mind, Anakin Skywalker, and guide the Force back to balance."**

Anakin did what he always did at the end of such climactic events. He blacked out.

* * *

 **(Plo Koon's meditation chamber, Jedi Temple; Tython)**

"Ugh, I really hate this.", Anakin said, his voice feeling thick, with sensation slowly returning to his leaden tongue.

"Yes, you really should stop fainting every chance you get", came Obi-Wan's voice, as Anakin's vision slowly swam into focus. He realized he wasn't kneeling in front of the Flesh Raider anymore, but actually lying down on a mat in a corner of the same room.

Struggling to one elbow, he saw that Masters Obi-Wan and Fisto were also present, apart from Plo Koon.

"I sent for them when you suddenly collapsed and underwent a seizure of sorts. You should probably give your questions a rest for now.", Master Koon said, clarifying his doubt before he could voice it.

"The Talisman. Is it-?"

"We can no longer sense a Force presence in it. Whatever you did, that thing is just another relic now, a worthless one at that. It's not even a rare crystal."

"How-? No, never mind. What I learnt in that Talisman's mindspace is of utmost importance. We need another Council meeting. Now."

"Anakin, you should look at yourself in a mirror. You look more disheveled than that Flesh Raider. And given how you've been out for almost an hour, I'd say you need your rest.", Obi-Wan interrupted.

"Okay, meeting first thing tomorrow, then. For now, please just get me a datapad. I'll get to resting right after, I promise."

"Right after what?", Obi-Wan queried, frowning as he handed his own personal datapad over to Anakin.

"Sorry, by your own request, I can and will only tell you in tomorrow's meeting.", Anakin smirked, punching coordinates into the datapad.

The various locations of the Force signatures might be burned into his memory for now, but he didn't trust it to be eternally so, and he had no idea what state he'd be in once he woke up. If he forgot even one location, it could lead to a potential disaster on a Galactic level.

He saw that a few locations were not mapped in the datapad's archive, and realized that they might be on long-forgotten planets along no longer existent Hyperspace routes. He simply plotted an approximate location from his memory, but averaging out the distances from various other Force signature locations that did map to actual planets.

His work done, Anakin sighed in tiredness and handed over the datapad back to Obi-Wan.

"Keep that safe, Master, and bring it to the meeting tomorrow. You're all in for a pretty nasty surprise."

Slowly rising to his feet, Anakin realized that his muscles were actually aching, apparently from the seizure he had, which was no doubt when he was fighting Vader.

Vader.

For some reason, ever since he'd woken up, Anakin felt like a great burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He no longer carried the darkness he previously did not know existed, but could feel its absence very clearly. He was much more in tune with the Force than he had been hours ago, to an extent that he felt he could use Force-Sight in the physical realm, something that very few could achieve, that too after years of practice.

Impossibly high Midichlorian counts didn't come with drawbacks apparently.

Except for the Sith Lord gunning for him, and the centuries old prophecy, of course. Anakin had a nagging feeling of familiarity when the massive Dark Presence had assaulted him at the end of his so-called quest, but still, he couldn't quite place a finger to it.

Still, all of those were worries for tomorrow. He had his bed and Padme to get back to, and as long as that was there, all his worries took second place. His features seemed to relax much more, just thinking about her, and their children.

He couldn't wait to see Luke and Leia.


	10. Strength is Power

**A/N 1: Another chapter, and I'm pleased to say that the next one is well under way, so expect a quick update. Last month was hectic with work, so I had barely any leeway.**

 **As always, PLEASE review, I love em. PM me with any doubts/queries/suggestions.**

 **May the Force guide and watch over you.**

 **P.S. Beta creds to the very same git as always.**

 **Also, I sadly do not own Star Wars, how much ever I would've loved to have my own lightsaber.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **(Anakin Skywalker's Chambers, Jedi Temple, Tython)**

The events of the previous day had left Anakin Skywalker summarily exhausted, and he had barely managed to change from his Jedi robes into more comfortable nightwear and snuggle into bed, pulling a fully-asleep Padme into a cuddle that brought a subconscious smile on the latter's face. He figured, as the Council meeting was scheduled for later in the morning owing to the Councilors mothering over his health, he had a good few hours of peaceful bliss ahead of him, and drifted off into a comfortable sleep.

It had barely felt like he was asleep for more than a few minutes when his tranquility was rudely bludgeoned into non-existence.

 ***Smack!***

"Wha-?"

 ***Smack!***

"Ouch!"

Apparently his tormenter didn't believe in reprieves or fair chances.

Anakin blearily opened his eyes, hands shielding his face from further damage, when he realized he was still in his bed and sunlight was pouring in from the windows. Shaking his head in confusion, he made to sit up, but came to realize of a weight in his mid-section, one that was emitting gurgling laughter now.

"…Luke? What are-"

 ***Smack!***

"Damn it!"

"Language, Anakin!" came the voice from the depths of the bathroom attached to his chamber.

He winced, grabbing the foreign object that seemed to the cause of his rude awakening and saw it was a toy model of the AT-TE tank that the Clones used. He was still blinking in confusion when he felt a tug out of nowhere on the toy, and looked up to see Luke staring at it in consternation.

His eyes widened, and a stupid grin plastered his face at his realization. Padme walked out of the bath ten minutes later to find him still grinning at the toy as if he were a five year old, making the former smother her laughter.

"You do realize your son should be the one playing with the toys? And why were you yelling?"

"Huh?" he said eloquently, looking up, before he came to understand what she meant. "Oh no, that's not what I'm smiling about. It's Luke. He been hitting me with this for the past few minutes.", he said, holding up the model AT-TE.

"….And that's got you this happy why, exactly?" she queried, fearing her child had done what no saber-toting Sith could do: brain damage.

"Oh, right, that's because he didn't use his hands to do it! Padme, he was using the Force!" he exclaimed happily, that ridiculous grin reappearing on his face.

Padme could only stare wondrously at the revelation, tears of happiness welling up in her eyes. She made her way over to the bed, after finding Leia to be still fast asleep, and hugged the little boy lightly to her chest.

"Our son…" she said, unable to contain her happiness as she gazed into Anakin's eyes.

"He will be a Jedi, and a powerful one at that. I will train him myself." Anakin replied, pulling both of them into an embrace. Padme lightly placed one hand of hers on his cheek and kissed him, feeling extremely comfortable and safe in his arms.

They stayed that way for a while, till Luke's gurgling broke the silence. Slowly pulling away from Anakin she picked up Luke to take him back to his cradle, while she spoke to her husband.

"The Council meeting is in an hour. I was planning to wake you up once I was done showering, but Luke seems to have done that in my stead, and much more spectacularly." She said, smiling at her child.

Anakin seemed miffed.

"What's the point of waking me up **after** you shower?" he sighed with mock exasperation.

"Anakin!" came the immediate scandalized exclamation.

"What? It's not like they can understand that!"

She just shook her head at him, still smiling. "Well, you need to get ready for your meeting, at any rate."

"Ugh, I'd rather not get out of bed. I was way too comfortable snuggling with you."

"Should've thought of that before you decided to want to become a member of the Jedi Council" she said, amusement playing on her lips.

Anakin merely sighed and made to get out of bed, slower than a Hutt crawling on a near-vertical slope.

"Well, you finish your meeting quick and we'll see about that shower when you're back."

She was pretty sure she saw him enter hyperspace as he leapt off the bed and into the bathroom, inciting laughter from her.

Forty minutes later, the doorbell rang to admit Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had apparently decided to accompany Anakin to the Council chambers.

"I brought the datapad along. What was all that about? As far as I could gather, most of them are coordinates to certain planets, with no particular correlation between all of them. What are they actually?"

"Exactly as you said, coordinates." Anakin said in a deadpan manner, pulling on his Jedi vest. "Come on, I'll explain at the meeting. I'd rather not repeat everything."

As they were walking to the Council, Anakin was pondering as to whether or not she should reveal all that had transpired in the Talisman mindspace to the Council, because frankly he didn't see any good in telling them about Vader. He could confide in Obi-Wan later, but for now, he was not going to mention anything about his final trial to them.

The Council chamber doors hissed open to reveal that all the other Masters had already arrived, not having had to sleep for so long. Anakin asked for Obi-Wan's datapad and requested him to shut off the lights in the room, and proceeded to connect the datapad to the holoterminal on the table that lay at the centre of the room.

The other Masters took their seats around the same table, waiting for him to begin.

Anakin pulled up a map of the Galaxy from the Jedi Archives and displayed it on the holo, followed by syncing the coordinates from the datapad on to the map.

Once done, he drew a breath and began.

"My fellow Councilors, as you no doubt know by now, I, along with assistance from Master Koon, was able to figure out the mystery behind the Talisman embedded in the Flesh Raider, and I am pretty sure when I say this, that you are going to have your minds blown."

Some mild frowning aside, the Councilors were in rapt attention.

"The first thing, of highest importance, is that that was no ordinary talisman. It housed a Force signature of a person, almost like a part of his soul. This was what was responsible for the mutations in the Flesh Raider, along with granting him the ability to wield the Force. I'm also guessing it was partly responsible for driving the beast crazy. It is not in the nature of the Flesh Raiders to usually be so vehemently upfront about their assault."

There was hushed murmuring, but no one interrupted him.

"Also, this is not the only such trinket in existence" he said, gesturing towards the map.

"There are multiple other such talismans spread throughout the Galaxy, and these are the locations, more or less."

Master Yoda spoke up at this point. "Come to know of this, how did you, Master Skywalker?"

"The Force told me."

There was a collective gasp followed by a ringing silence, a silent gesture for him to elucidate further.

"The entire tirade yesterday was about trying to find out more about the Talisman, and to do so, I had to enter its mindspace. To this end, I required Master Koon's assistance."

Anakin proceeded to outline the details of his "Quest", relaying all of what the Force itself had told him. When he got to the final part however, he replaced Vader with a Rancor with the same explosive nature as the other Force illusions, defeating which had earned him the talisman.

Obi-Wan's brow furrowed as he realized there was more to it.

"That's it? One tap and you got the talisman?"

"Well, it was more of a slash, really. You should give credit to effort."

Obi-Wan merely raised an eyebrow at that, but decided against pursuing it further, as he figured there was a reason Anakin was being particularly evasive. He would just ask him later on.

"I was able to make the other talismans across the galaxy resonate using the Force signature of this one, and that's how I found the coordinates. It's a rough calculation, but I'm guessing it's accurate for the most part."

"Hang on, you said it was like a soul fragment, this Talisman."

Anakin nodded, and recounted his encounter with the vast presence at the end of his quest that had forcibly ejected him from the mind-space.

"I did nothing to actually destroy the soul within, so it seems that was done by this other Presence, probably to prevent me from gleaning any information, which I have to say, turned out to be rather ineffective. Also, I'm not sure, but I have a nagging feeling that this has to do with our own Sith problem. I'm not sure, but the Presence I encountered yesterday felt familiar."

This brought a lot of hands to chins along with deep consternation in general. Seeing as no one seemed to be in an inquisitive mood, he proceeded.

"Of the entire list, there is a total of eight such Talismans that seem to have an as high Force signature as the one I destroyed yesterday, which means it is going to take a Jedi to take care of it, for sure. The others, I'm not sure, but I think it should be possible for it to be destroyed by methods not involving the Force. Lobbing grenades at it should work. Without the trinket itself, the soul piece would immediately become one with the Force, rather than retain its individuality."

"Why must all of them be destroyed anyway?"

"Because I'm convinced that it's not possible to destroy the Sith without relieving him of all these anchors. Even if we do manage to destroy his current physical body, his other surviving soul pieces would be able to still keep him anchored to the living realm. Only if all of these are destroyed will it be possible for us to kill him, once and for all. Apparently he's not even recent, given what the Force told me." He was still trying to wrap his head around the idea that the Force had spoken to him, and that he was an 'Avatar' of sorts.

Plo Koon stood up, staring at the galaxy map. "I propose we make getting rid of these Talismans the Order's top priority. Any missions related to these Talismans are to be treated as top secret, and we are going have the SCARS involved with this, as we do not have enough numbers to destroy all of these anchors within a short enough time period."

"There is also the matter that the Master of these Talismans might actually notice if they start disappearing." Master Fisto said, earning a set of nods in response.

Plo Koon continued "A palpable effect might only be seen in the case of the strongest eight Talismans, as the others are too weak to produce a ripple in the Force. Still, given how many there are, anyone would notice if more than fifty of these were to start vanishing at a time. Our best course of action would be to embed SCARS troopers within active squads in planets where we have a Talisman signature and where there is still an active conflict."

There was a collective sigh at that statement. It had been months since the Clone Wars were officially over, with the death of General Grievous, the capture of Count Dooku and the total loss of the Separatists at the Battle of Coruscant. The droid armies had been shut down, but multiple Separatist planets were still engaged in open conflict by trying to form a new collective movement against the Republic. These planets made use of their own local militia and troops to continue the war effort.

"At the very least, these conflicts will help prevent suspicion. I don't believe it for one moment that the Sith was controlling everything on his own, because that would be impossible, and also, I saw him speak to someone else during my fight with him. If a large number of Clones suddenly started popping up on random planets and turning over rocks, it might lead to questions and the enemy finding out about our motives sooner than we want."

"I concur. Master Skywalker, can you see to assigning the Clones their missions? You are still their commanding officer, after all."

Anakin nodded. "We should also send Jedi to handle the main eight. I propose sending at least one Jedi Master with each team."

Master Ti stood up. "I will take a few Knights with me to Coruscant."

"Go, I will, to Dagobah, but alone. Already know I do, that which I require to locate this talisman."

"Master Yoda, are you sure?" Obi-Wan queried.

"Fear not, Master Kenobi. Lived in Dagobah previously, I have. Know the planet well, I do. Require assistance, I do not."

The other Masters followed with suggestions, picking the other planets that they were familiar with.

"Obi-Wan and I will take the one on Tatooine." Anakin said, looking at his former Master, who nodded in agreement.

At this, Master Yoda spoke up again. "A suggestion I have, Masters. To test, I would like to put, my former apprentice. Request he did, to rejoin the Order."

"Wait, Dooku? Master Yoda, you can't be serious. He was a Sith Lord, and the under the thumbs of our current adversary."

"Observed him with great care, have I, and sense none of the old darkness I do. A mere puppet, was he, quite well used as a disposable tool, by the Sith Lord. Completely under Force compulsion, he was. "

"I agree with Master Yoda on this. I have spoken to the Count and he seems to be extremely taken disgusted with his actions during the war. His emotions are quite clear through the Force, and the taint of Dark Side control has left him. I propose we use this mission as a test. It would reduce one of our headaches, at least." Plo Koon ventured.

"Two Stonerays with one blaster bolt, eh? Alright. We stay wary, and I don't think he poses much of a threat even if he did try to turn on us. I'm surprised he's still so spry at his age."

"Still, let's not underestimate him. Anakin, we set out for Tatooine in a week. I'll talk to Dooku by then, and see if I can learn anything else."

"Alright then. If there's nothing else to discuss, we might as well adjourn. Master Skywalker, please brief the SCARS commanders by today. It might be prudent to send the clones out as soon as possible."

"Will do, but later in the evening. I have an urgent matter to get back to" he said, smirking to himself.

Obi-Wan guessed his meaning rightly and merely sighed at his former Padawan's lack of composure at the slightest thought of his wife. Apparently the fact that he could be open about his relationship still didn't stop exciting him.

* * *

 **(Dark Council Chamber, Sith Academy, Korriban; A week later)**

Darth Maul strode into the Dark Council chambers to find his Emperor steeped in thought as he convened with a Force Ghost, which, funnily enough, seemed fully armored. Not wanting to intrude, Maul waited near the door, choosing to observe the proceedings, even though he couldn't perceive the Ghost's words clearly.

A few moments later, the Emperor nodded and dismissed the Ghost, motioning Maul to come forward.

"Lord Maul, what is the status of the army?"

"We have more than enough troopers, Master, and they are being trained by Sith and experienced Mandalorian soldiers alike. The order of command has been established, and you may inspect them if you chose to."

"The 'soldiers' are of no concern to me; only the Sith. You seem to have a query. What is it?"

"My Lord, even with so many troopers, the problem is that we don't have a sizeable Navy, only Starfighters of varying specifications. There are none that can match up to the Republic's capital ships."

"Indeed. Do you have any solutions to the problem, Lord Maul?"

"We could send either negotiate with Shipyards to build us a fleet, but that would require considerable funding, and needless to say, the Republic will notice if Shipyards start manufacturing capital starships en masse. We could send a force to forcibly take over shipyards, but that poses an even bigger threat of Republic retaliation, as they will find out about it immediately. I am unable to think of any method that will allow us to maintain our existence as a secret but will also provide us with the necessary armaments and ships."

"Very perceptive, Lord Maul. Perhaps you're not just the rage-bent lunkhead assassin that Sidious thought you were."

Vitiate had told Maul about his true identity a few days ago, much to the latter's awe at the claim to immortality. Still, he never once questioned Vitiate's statements as was plainly able to sense the power contained in the latter's body, something that completely dwarfed out what Sidious had possessed. Vitiate's Force aura was even palpable to non-Force sensitive, who subconsciously found themselves to be nervous and fretful when in his presence, irrespective of whether they were aware of him or not.

"Your words do me credit, my Emperor." Multiple torture sessions had taught Maul that not every problem was solved by swinging his lightsaber at it.

"Bring the Fury around. We are going to get ourselves a fleet. My last Sith Empire lost out due to my inaction and passiveness. I withdrew from the Empire's machinations to focus on increasing my own power, and that led to my downfall, alongside the Empire's- It will not be the case this time."

"At once, My Lord."

 ***Half an hour later***

The Fury-class imperial interceptor's ramp closed as it lifted off with its two passengers, its bow angling upwards into the atmosphere.

"What is our destination, My Lord?"

"Dromund Kaas. The coordinates will already be on this ship."

"It's not a system I am familiar with, my Lord, and I doubt it's charted in any recent star maps. How does this ship contain this?" Maul asked, punching in the coordinates, genuinely curious.

"This ship was built during the time of my last Sith Empire, even though it has been retrofitted with much more modern tech by Sidious, it still contains all the planets that were mapped back then. Dromund Kaas was the capital of the Sith Empire."

Containing his surprise, Maul set the ship's navicomputer on autopilot, as the ship blasted off into hyperspace. Yearning to learn more, Maul proceeded to follow his Master to the central lounge and voiced his curiosity.

Vitiate was once a man of little patience and tolerance, who would have simply given a generous dose of Force lightning to anyone daring to ask him questions, but a few thousand years of being stranded as a spirit had given him enough time to bring things into perspective. Had he not completely disregarded everyone as even remotely being capable of being a threat, he would've still been ruling over the Galaxy. Fear was a great motivator, and it kept everyone in line, yes, but extremely liberal amounts of it along with needless displays of violence only furthered mental anguish amongst his subordinates and didn't serve any purpose. He had long since resigned himself to use violence only when the other person actually made a mistake, and not for fun. As the Emperor, he was the example that his people looked up to, and he could not have the Sith under him descending into madness by torturing their underlings for fun. He had no qualms against random violence, but he realized it served no real purpose; the Sith and the people under him feared him anyway. Sidious' lunacy had seen to that, especially after the Coruscant spectacle.

Seating himself, he looked at Maul and began "Dromund Kaas was a planet that I conducted a massive Force ritual on, covering the entire planet in permanent storms. The entire planet is almost inhospitable, given the weather conditions and almost permanent rain. The only hospitable area is Kaas City, where the Imperial Citadel lies."

"Is, My Lord? You speak of the city in present tense."

"Yes, and speak out of turn again, and I will sever your tongue."

Maul simply looked like he'd been forced to swallow Bantha dung, fear mixed with embarrassment playing on his features. The other man was his Emperor, after all.

"Dromund Kaas 'disappeared' from all galaxy maps and such in a very short time, as a part of my contingency plan, leaving no one aware of its existence, once the old Empire faded from existence. The galaxy started to believe that it had been abandoned, and eventually, over the centuries, it became a myth. I even erased its location from the Jedi archives. Funny, what simple mind control can achieve. Kaas City is very much still in existence, just as I believe the Jedi Temple on Tython is still in existence and maintained by Jedi for a long time. I started reclamation and re-habitation on this planet a few years before Korriban, using Darth Plagueis as my tool. Imagine my surprise when I found the Imperial City to still be alive after so many millennia. The hyperspace route that we are currently taking, is the only route to Dromund Kaas, and it is a well-guarded secret, and apparently it was utilized by a sect of followers from the time of the Old Empire, that are staunch believers in the Immortal Sith Emperor, for travels to and from the planet. The City was very much still operational, alongside having multiple battalions of the Imperial Army still stationed there. I brought it all back under my control through Plagueis, and the Imperial Capital is now fully operational." Vitiate said.

"So, we already have an actual power base and troops? My Lord, what was the need for my Shadow Collective army then?"

"If you notice, Lord Maul, I said there were only a few battalions still there. The Republic has well over a million troopers in its Grand Army. Even so, we are not here for just the army. As a part of my contingency in case I was defeated, I had placed multiple agents loyal to only me with a directive: berth the vessel they were in charge of at the Shipyard on Kaas."

"So, we do have a Navy."

"Very much so, even if it is not very sizeable. The Republic would have noticed a sudden lack of enemy ships if too many had been berthed. Still, these ships have to be retrofitted with modern tech before we can take them into battle."

"I will make that my highest priority, My Lord."

"See to it. I am also promoting you to be the first member of the Dark Council. I have trained you well enough. Do not disappoint me."

"Thank you, My Lord, and I won't", Maul replied, gratitude showing plainly in his voice. He was seriously impressed with the amount of planning and forethought shown by his Master, given the number of contingencies he had in place. He may have had been another tyrant, but he was not headstrong to the point of idiocy like the rest, and had prepared for the worst case.

At this point, Vitiate stood up and walked into his bedroom, the door closing behind him. Realizing his audience was over, Maul proceeded to the rear of the ship. He figured lashing out at a training dummy with his lightsaber might help him pass some time. Dromund Kaas was not too far away from Korriban, but it would still take a few hours in hyperspace.

* * *

 **(SCARS Intelligence Headquarters, Jedi Temple, Tython)**

"…..And lastly, Omega Squad is assigned to Nar Shaddaa. As it lies in Hutt Space, we don't really have troops that we can embed you guys with, so this mission will be undertaken with the help of the SIS agents on the planet. Treat this as Black Ops and undercover. You may take your armor with you, but refrain from wearing it unless a confrontation is warranted. Clone Commando armor will raise a lot of questions." Rex finished, looking up from his datapad.

Omega and Delta squads were the last squads to be assigned missions, as talismans which were not on Separatist or Republic worlds needed an undercover operation to locate them. The other troops had been assigned their missions a week back, on the evening of the Council meeting, and over the week, most SCARS troopers had departed to join the troops they were to be embedded with. Delta had been assigned to Corellia, and Omega to Nar Shaddaa.

"Omega and Delta, you move out first thing tomorrow. Your SIS contact will meet you planet-side." Anakin said, getting up from his seat at the head of the briefing room. He stretched upwards and exhaled, totally regretting the long flight he had ahead of him to Tatooine in an hour. Tython was near the center of the Galaxy, while Tatooine was in the Outer-Rim, meaning he had a few days solitude with Obi-Wan Kenobi in a starship. Oh, what joy.

"Understood, Sir." Niner said, as both Commando squads stood up, picking up their gear.

"This mission is of extremely high importance, with galaxy-wide repercussions. Make sure you live up to your reputations. May the Force be with you." Anakin said, following the clones out of the briefing room.

Forty minutes later, the pair stood at the shuttle pad on the top floor of the Jedi Temple, waiting for their transport to be refueled. Given the nature of the mission, they deemed it prudent to go under disguise as a couple of outlaws, rather than Jedi, to which end they were wrapped in worn-out armor with blasters mounted on their hips, their sabers hidden in the rear compartment of their belts.

"Well, let's get on with it, then", Anakin said, moving forward to board the ship.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Anakin?"

"What?" Anakin said, frowning as he turned to face his fellow Master.

"Whom" came the reply from behind Obi-Wan, as a figure walked out of the corridor into the sunlight.

"Oh right. Greetings, **My Lord**." Anakin said, unable to hide his sly amusement as Count Dooku walked to a halt next to the duo, dropping his bag in front of a Loader droid.

Not rising to his rebuke, Dooku spoke amicably "Greetings, Master Kenobi, Master Skywalker. Are we ready to depart?"

"Shortly, Count Dooku, and forgive Master Skywalker's etiquette, he seems to be touched in the head", Obi-Wan said, amusement playing on his face as he sensed as opportunity.

An opportunity that Dooku effortlessly picked upon, making Anakin realize that the former's 'Count' title wasn't just for show.

"Of course, Master Kenobi, I would never expect one held at such high regard by the Council to resort to platitudes of such kind."

Anakin merely huffed, not wanting to add fuel to their current state of verbosity. He barely could handle one Obi-Wan with a sharp sarcastic tongue, and now there were two of them. Yes, this trip was definitely going to be fun. Also, apparently the Count was not even a bit miffed at his not-so-eloquent disposal aboard Grievous' destroyer during the Battle of Coruscant. Either that, or he hid his resentment very well, as he had had to shave his head after his singed hair simply refused to grow in some patches.

Still, Anakin was piloting the transport for this trip, and he knew very well of Obi-Wan's general disapproval of his flying tactics, evoking a smile on his lips as he realized that the age-old Count probably was not a huge fan of swoop racing either. He simply climbed into the cockpit, and carried out the pre-flight checks as the other two found their seats in the rear of the craft.

"Right, let's get this over with. We aren't expect to experience any turbulence, but, well, you never know when we might run into a Purrgil swarm", his gleeful voice carried over the speakers.

Both passengers wordlessly reached for their belts.

An hour later, the ship was eerily calm, the only noise being the hyperdrive's hum, with both the older Masters having retired to their compartments for the night relatively early. The relative silence found Anakin Skywalker in a meditative pose in the middle of his own chamber, deep in thought.

Over the last few months, Anakin had spent a lot of his extra time researching the Force itself, in a spiritual and hands-on manner. It was during one such contemplative session that he had theorized and been convinced that the Force itself comprised of two individual parts, one more abstract and based off feelings, while the other was its physical aspect. The Jedi seemed to unknowingly utilize just the abstract aspect when using powers like Force Persuasion and Mind control, while the physical attacks like Force Push and Pull comprised of the latter. Anakin's own signature Force Repulse was something he had discovered while experimenting with the physical aspect.

He also realized that each individual aspect could be used to amplify the effect of the other. Case in point: an emotion like anger. Feeding off your anger allowed you to exert a lot more power than you normally could with the same effort. Also, by varying the spiritual intensity and composition itself, each physical Force attack could be modified into another form. The Sith used a form of spiritual manipulation on Force Rend when they utilized Force Lightning, their emotions and cruelty warping the Force to an almost vehemently killing force.

This discovery brought him to yet another realization: There was no Dark or Light Side of the Force itself, just the people who were too drunk on the power that amplifying their negative emotions granted them, without any thought towards what continuous excessive feeding off such emotions could cause. Imbalance, as Anakin had once said, led to inability of the Force to flow evenly, hence reducing the power a being could channel.

Anakin also found out that overly exerting just one aspect led to a rupture in the Force itself, as its flow membrane was violently ripped apart. He had seen this in action when Mace Windu's crystal had shattered during their fight with the Sith. The Force Repulse that he used was a much more watered down version utilizing the same principle. He would have to thank Sidious for letting him in on this path, leading him to discover many a revelation, alongside powerful Force attacks.

This last week, he had put in a lot of effort in researching the spiritual aspect of the Force, by simply falling into a meditative trance and observing his surroundings and experimenting. His experience with the Talisman had taught him that there was so much potential the Force had to offer that he was unaware of, and he had set his jaw in defiance when he recollected how much more powerful the Dark Presence had seemed.

He would unravel the secrets of the Force. Hell, he was the Force-incarnate, according to the Force itself, which meant it was well within his rights and ability.

And he would destroy the Sith, once and for all. The Jedi Order was finally achieving balance after millennia of misunderstanding what they actually stood for, and the Sith were simply upsetting the scales when not required.

Focusing on his experimentation and recollection from the last week, Anakin pulled the Force into him, using the spiritual aspect to reinforce his senses, while he let the physical aspect flow through him into his surroundings, forming a sort of feedback loop as it let him perceive everything through the Force.

He opened his eyes, which now glowed white, a smile playing on his lips as he realized he had finally succeeded.

He had managed to activate his Force-Sight outside the Mind-space.

Everything seemed almost perfect in detail as his enhanced cognition took in his surroundings at a much faster rate and in higher resolution than normal. He was minutely aware of the space creature that passed by at one point, while he was just as aware of Obi-Wan stirring in his sleep.

Granted, it still required time and concentration for him to get into this so-called "Sage-Mode", a term he had coined after realizing that he had discovered an esoteric aspect of the Force no other Jedi Sage had, forget Jedi in general, and it was literally what they did for a living. Jedi Sages never specialized in any form of combat, except passive and mental, while utilizing their skills to primarily uncover the mysteries of the Force itself.

Still, it was inconceivably valuable, especially in combat. With practice, he realized, he could definitely reduce the time he took to enter said-mode, with lesser concentration on his part. If Lightsabers could be wielded more effectively by muscle memory then so could the Force be wielded better by spiritual memory.

The transport continued to blast its way through hyperspace, its other two occupants blissfully unaware of their companion's divination in their state of rest.


	11. Victory Is Never For All Sides

**A/N 1: Relatively quick update as I promised.**

 **Honestly, if you guys like what you read, tell me about it. If you don't, tell me why not too. :P**

 **For Reviews are my ally, and powerful allies they are too. ~Lil' green badass Grand Master.**

 **May the Force be with you, always!**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **(Mos Ila spaceport, Tatooine, Outer Rim Territories)**

Anakin Skywalker's starship banked slowly downward as his astromech droid, R2D2, guided it along its pre-allocated trajectory to the allocated landing pad. The other three inhabitants, meanwhile, secured their items from their respective chambers and gathered near the exit ramp, waiting for the ship to dock.

"Remind me again why we are docking at Mos Ila and not Mos Eisley? Given that Mos Eisley is the biggest spaceport and inhabited area, we should start from there", Obi-Wan Kenobi queried, giving voice to his doubts.

"For the very same reason. It is full of people that might recognize either you or me, given our past visits to the planet. Also, I very much doubt that the Talisman is in Mos Eisley, of all places. The Sith, given their flairs and eccentricities, would've placed this somewhere far more appropriate and majestic in their eyes. It goes against their pride to simply hide it."

"Yes, but we can't completely disregard –" Dooku ventured, before Anakin cut him off.

"The signature is somewhere out in the desert and it is much closer to Ila than Eisley. I could feel it."

"Well then, given we already have our personal Talisman tracker, why don't we just fly over to it and retrieve it?"

Anakin sighed and then responded, "Because I can't pinpoint its exact location. That time I found out their locations in the Talisman's mind-space, I was only able to glean rough locations. The coordinates I plugged in are my own approximation. I'm not very sure, but I believe this particular Talisman to be somewhere out in the Jundland Wastes."

Somewhat mollified by his answer, the others turned to face the ramp as it lowered with a pneumatic hiss. Disembarking, Anakin called out to R2 and made it enter the ship into the spaceport logs.

"Any idea as to how we're going to find this thing? I don't suppose it even looks the same."

"I have a contact in the SIS that might be able to help us. Once we get close enough, I'm sure I could sense it. We just need to find the general area where it might be located."

"SIS contact? How exactly do you know this person?" Dooku queried.

Anakin smirked. "Pays to have a Senator for a wife, doesn't it?"

"I'm going to tell Padme you said that." Obi-Wan replied, striding forward into the spaceport before the other could respond.

Wide-eyed and horrified at the implications, Anakin followed suit.

"Anyway, where is this SIS contact of yours?" Obi-Wan asked, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the relative darkness.

"The only place to make any kind of business meetings in this town: the Mos Ila Cantina."

"So, basically, your kind of place."

"I'm offended, Master, I really am."

"Save it, Anakin. Let's go find this contact of yours."

The trio rented speeder bikes from a vendor outside the spaceport, who tried to scam them within an inch of poverty, but a general dose of Force Suggestion had him almost offering them money to take a ride. Paying appropriately, they secured their gear and mounted their respective bikes, speeding off with Anakin in the lead.

The drive to the Cantina was a short one, as it was well within the city itself. Disembarking, Anakin turned to the other two.  
"Listen, it's better if I meet my contact alone, and also, our stuff would vanish faster than either of you could pull out your sabers if left alone on this planet. Take my gear with you to our hideout, I'll meet you there in two hours."

Nodding their assent, the two of them turned their bikes and sped off after Obi-Wan took Anakin's gear from him, while Anakin made his way inside the Cantina.

This was home ground for him, having grown up on Tatooine throughout his childhood. The memory of that brought his mother to the front, sending a pang of loss through his heart. Shaking his head, he decided to focus on the task at hand. He knew the locals and their traditions well, so finding his contact wouldn't be an issue.

Making his way to the barman, who was a Zeltronian male, he ordered one of the local ales, taking the time the barman took to ready his drink to take a look at the crowd. Nothing stood outside the ordinary to his senses. The crowd seemed to be the usual ruffian sort, ranging from a few squabbling goons at the sabacc tables to drunk Twi'leks dancing with their partners.

Downing his drink, he turned to the barman and said "Say, I'm looking for someone. You think you can help me out?"

The barman crossed his arms and stared. When no answer came forth, Anakin proceeded "Do you know where I could find 'The Sandman'?"

The Zeltronian's eyes narrowed dangerously as he slipped one arm under the table and spoke "Depends on who's asking."

Anakin merely smirked in reply and said "Just tell him that there's another chance for a Podrace if he isn't too sore from being beaten badly last time. He'll know who I am."

The barman visibly relaxed at that, his hand coming back up to the table.

"Ah, so you're his contact. He told me you'd use this phrase." He clarified, looking at Anakin's perplexed expression. "That's him at the sabacc table in the corner, the one who looks like he's about to get his head pounded in by that Wookiee."

Thanking the man, Anakin started to make his way to the table. Halfway through, he spied a young, tall teenager eyeing him out of the corner of his eyes from his position near the wall. He smiled inwardly, realizing what was going to happen as the kid moved towards him as inconspicuously as possible, and continued walking.

The teenager bumped into him, apparently by mistake, muttered an apology and continued on ahead.

Ten seconds later, a cry of anguish was heard from the teenager as he realized that not only had the stranger hidden his own wallet, but had also cut his own purse, without him so much as realizing. Drawing his blaster, he turned around, only for his gun to be pulled out of his grip and another hand clamping down on his wrist like a vice.

"Never underestimate your target, lest the prey become the predator." Anakin said, smirking. In some ways this corner of the galaxy never changed.

"Let me go, you Nerf-herder! And give me my money back!" The teenager growled, trying to pull away.

"Tell you what, I'll give you that and some more, if you do me a favour."

The kid stopped struggling at that, but his face still held a glare.

"What do you want me to do? And it better not be some weird gay shit."

"What? No! Listen, go up to that man there at the corner table and tell him that the Cartel Security wants their money back and point at me. Make sure you do so loudly so that the entire table hears you."

Frowning, the teenager did the very same, eliciting reactions from all the members on the table. Each other member, including the Wookiee, grabbed their winnings, or in the Wookiee's case, nothing, and fled, while the man himself sat at the table giving Anakin a baleful eye.

Motioning him forward, he turned and whispered something to the boy, who nodded and walked off towards the bar counter.

"I was almost winning that pot." Kitster, SIS Operative, codename: The Sandman, said, as Anakin seated himself opposite to his childhood friend.

"Yes, and the Wookie was almost taking your head off."

"Ah, he kept insisting I was cheating and didn't believe it when I denied his accusations."

"But you did cheat?" Anakin asked, even though it sounded more like a statement.

"Have you ever seen anyone win a game of sabacc honestly in this corner of the galaxy?"

"Fair point." Anakin laughed. "It's good to see you after all this time, my friend."  
"And so it is. I never really got around to properly thanking you for this job either."

"You should thank my wife, she was the one that pulled the strings. Anyway, I was surprised to find you here. What happened to that stint on Corellia?"

"Oh, we wrapped up that smuggling ring alright. Their leader, this lousy character called Shrike, tried to sic his Wookiee prisoner on me, but imagine our surprise when the first thing that came off after the shock collar was off was his own head. It was where I found this kid too." He said, indicating at the very same teenager, who walked up to their table with a serving tray containing two bottles of Alderaanian Ale. "Kid's brighter than a Kaminoan on enhancement drugs, and Shrike had him smuggling things against his own wishes. We brought him in and offered to train him as an SIS agent."

Anakin smiled, "SIS, but still haven't gotten over your criminal days, eh? What's your name, kid?"

"Solo. Han Solo."

"Here, your cut as I promised. Do me another favour, will you? Go give these credit chips to that Wookiee. He's probably realized that the Cartel Security gag was a ruse."  
"Which Wookiee?"

"The one about to come in through the entrance in 10 seconds."

Han's eyes widened as he realized something. "You're a Jedi, aren't you?"

"Yes, and keep that to yourself. Now, run along."

Anakin turned to his friend as the latter started speaking. "So, my friend, what can I do for you? You were very cryptic over the Holocommunicator."

"There's a crisis of sorts, but it's not come about yet. To prevent it from happening at all, we've come up with a contingency."

"You, as in, the Jedi Council."

"Yeah, but me, mostly. The Order is actively participating. Even the SCARS have been sent on priority missions."  
"The SCARS? That's high profile. What are you looking for, exactly?"

"I believe the object I am looking for to be some kind of talisman or a significant enough trinket that might seem to cause, well, unusual behaviour in the people around it."

"Well, I don't know about "object", but the reason I was reassigned to this dustball was because of a mass homicide within the Hutt Cartel, something that had them actually turn to the Republic for help."

Intrigued, Anakin moved forward in his seat and continued to listen intently.

"Well, this certain Bounty Hunter went insane and slaughtered half of Jabba the Hutt's forces a couple of weeks back. He kept shouting 'It is time for his return!', or something of the sort, before he ran away. He apparently went psycho after picking up a certain lightsaber from one of Jabba's treasure vaults."

"Lightsaber? Still, wow, that was easy. I never thought I'd find my missing trinket so fast."

"The Bounty Hunter apparently blasted lightning from his fingertips left, right and centre."

"Okay, so not so easy, but still. Any leads on where this crazy might be?"

"Fled into the Wastes. The only thing we found was an entire slaughtered village of Tuskens, all killed by either a saber or charred to death. I'm guessing Lightning."

Anakin suddenly looked sick at that statement, and proceeded to liberally gulp down the remainder of the bottle.

"Whoa, easy there, my friend!"

"I'm good, don't worry. My strength in the Force prevents me from getting drunk too quick or staying drunk for too long."

"Sucks to be you."

"At any rate, I'm officially taking this mission off your hands. It's highly classified and requires Jedi intervention."

"Sure, be my guest. But tell you what, I'll help you through this one, if you'd have me, of course. I owe you for bailing me out with that Wookiee. You never know when an intelligence agent might be of use."

"Think nothing of it, but your help is welcome, all the same. Well, it's better if I brief you further back at our stronghold."

"You say stronghold, but I hear dingy apartment."

"From the outside, it's not much. On the inside, well, you might just be surprised."

"After the report on your battle with the ex-Supreme Chancellor, I doubt anything will surprise me."

Anakin smirked "A hundred credits says you're wrong."

 ***Half an hour later***

Kitster stood slightly slack-jawed as he took in the room in front of him.

"This is the kind of tech you Jedi run with? I have never seen anything this advanced!"

Anakin simply smiled with attempted innocence. "Well, you didn't think I'd let all the skills I learnt when working for Watto go waste, now did you?" he said, holding out his palm.

The SIS agent wordlessly dropped the credit chips into his hand as he took in the cloaked apartment retrofitted with plasma screens, holocommunicators and every piece of tech a field agent could think of, but better. Meanwhile, Han walked in, a similar expression on his face, but he proceeded to take a look around the room.

Anakin introduced them to Obi-Wan, who remembered Kitster's name from when he had first arrived on Tatooine, and Dooku, who merely nodded in reply. Anakin proceeded to tell the other two about what he had learnt about the talisman.

When he finished, Obi-Wan followed with planning for the next steps.

"Well, as you were the agent assigned to this, did you have any plans to apprehend this crazed bounty hunter?"

"Nothing I've laid out, but I believe he is looking for something else here."

The three Jedi frowned. "Something else?" Dooku asked.

"Well, I'd placed some agents at the few passes out of the Wastes, just in case he decided to pass by. Multiple agents sighted him nearing the edge, but then screaming "Must find Master!" and turning back."

"But why would he be looking for a soul fragment unless it-" Anakin paused suddenly, his eyes widening.

"What is it?"

"There's another one. Another Talisman in the Wastes. These two being so close to each other was why I sensed their Force signatures over a large area."

"Well, that complicates matters…"

"Not really. I have an idea." Anakin said, grinning suddenly.

"Oh? Care to let us in on that?"

Anakin chose not to reply, instead sat down on the floor and closed his eyes.

"Honestly, meditating isn't going to help right now." Dooku started, but Obi-Wan cut him off with a wave as he noticed the shift in the Force.

Both of them started with surprise when Anakin opened his eyes, and they were now glowing pure white, with no trace of his irises.

"Wha-What are you doing?"

 **"Just a little something I came up with in the last week. I call it my 'Sage mode'."**

All the eyes in the room widened at the power the words carried. It was surprising too, as Anakin was definitely not an orator.

"You're not a Jedi Sage, but I get the reference. What does it do?"

 **"Well, I tap into the Force to enhance my cognition to a very high degree. I can also, sort of, 'see' through the Force, like the Miraluka."**

Both the SIS agents, and the other two Jedi to a lesser extent, seemed to be fighting against something, as they tried to understand his words, frowns developing on their faces. Han simply sat down, holding his head in his hands.

"Anakin, stop using the Force to enhance your voice! It's laying a thick layer of compulsion on us!"

 **"What? Oh.."** Here he paused and concentrated. "Better?"

The others felt like a blanket had been lifted from their minds. Han, surprisingly, fainted when the pressure lifted.

"Damn, is he okay?", Anakin started, and reached out at the same time as the others to check on the boy.

Obi-Wan, being the first to reach him, checked him over with the Force, his hand lightly gripping his forehead. "He's fine, just out for a second or two. He tried to fight back really hard against your compulsion and having never had encountered a mind probe, he had no idea how to. When the pressure lifted, with no force to push against, he fell unconscious."

Dooku voiced his thoughts next. "That was a very powerful compulsion, albeit unintended, if I'm to guess from your expression. It didn't even feel like an attack."

"That's because it wasn't. We're trained to recognize attacks as direct probes on our minds, not as something that can affect us through our auditory senses. Anyway, what was the point of this again?"

Anakin, his eyes still glowing white, replied "Well, like I said, I can sort of see through the Force. If we take our speeders for a run, I might be able to pinpoint its location. I'm guessing it can't be too deeply hidden, because our Bounty Hunter seems to be searching for it in the same way."

"By looking for a resonating Force signature." Dooku said, his eyes widening with realization.

"Still", Obi-Wan said "The Wastes are a massive expanse. We can't take our speeders through the whole thing, unless you plan to spend months here."

"No, and that's where the SIS comes in." Anakin smiled, turning to his friend.

Pausing, he closed his eyes and stopped drawing the Force in, his senses returning to normal.

"You said your agents saw this guy near some of the exits. Well, use his recorded movement to generate trajectories and triangulate a rough area where he might be wanting to head towards."

"That's a good idea, actually." Kitster nodded, walking to the nearest screen. He started pulling up data recorded by his team and plotted it into a map, which he then displayed on the holo-projector.

"Triangulating now."

Within moments, a green area lit up to the west, considerably narrowing down the general area.

Smiling, Anakin said "Well, if that's the area, I'm sure I could locate it. Once we have the Talisman, well, we set a trap."

"Set a trap?" Dooku questioned, unconvinced. "I'm sure you could come up with something better than that."

"Well, Count, you of all people really shouldn't be doubting our traps, considering the last person to fall for it was you, and rather spectacularly at that." Anakin grinned.

A second later he balked, a sheepish grin on his face and his hands coming up in an apologetic manner as he the saw the look Dooku levelled at him. Could've killed a Rancor with a stare, that one.

Peering outside the window, Obi-Wan commented "Well, at any rate, let's take it up tomorrow morning. It's already darkening outside and I don't fancy going out this late."

"Trust me, Jedi or not, you've got to be barking mad to go out this late, what with the Sand People and all." Anakin said. "Alright, I'm going out for a walk. It's still not fully dark outside."

Not waiting for an answer, he made his way out.

Tatooine's twin suns were setting in the distance, slightly warm winds now blowing as Anakin stepped out of the apartment. Set some distance away from Mos Ila, there were no houses or settlements nearby, the lack of life giving a sort of solace to his mind as he fought to control his thoughts.

Ever since he'd arrived here, his thoughts were constantly turning towards his last visit to this planet, one that had culminated with his Mother's death. Even though it had been years since that happened, it still affected him to a great extent. Growing up in the harsh reality that Tatooine painted all its inhabitant's lives with, his Mother had been his only calm in that storm, and he hers. Slavery had been the only way of life he knew and could imagine, and even then, she had made sure to guard him from the worst aspects of that life, taking the brunt upon herself.

As far as he knew, since his birth, she had never been with another man till he left Tatooine to join the Order. She had sacrificed every happiness in her life just to ensure he never felt even a little bit unhappy or uncared for, and he had let her down. He was not able to save her. The one time she had required him to take care of her, he had failed. And on top of that, he had slaughtered all those Sand People, and almost fallen down a path his Mother would've vehemently disapproved.

Tears, hotter than the sands around him, poured out hard as he fell to his knees. He had walked some distance from the apartment lost in his thoughts, and he was kneeling on a mound of dirt, facing the twin Suns and the general direction in which his mother's grave lay. The warm winds seemed to wrap him in an embrace, in an attempt to console him as he shook with grief, unable to control his emotions.

She had wished for him to be strong, and he had caved in at almost every opportunity, only barely realising what was right and what was wrong in the last moments, even when the Sith had offered to train him in the ways of the Dark Side. He was supposed to be the ideal Jedi as a Master and a Council Member, but he felt he had failed. He didn't deserve the Barsen'thor title.

He sat there, glad for his solitude as he preferred no one see him in this state. He tilted his head up to the skies as the first of the stars started to twinkle, a memory of his Mother surfacing to the front of his mind, clear as day.

 _"Whenever you feel lost or hopeless, Ani, look to the stars." Shmi said. "They keep shining, no matter what goes on in the Galaxy, bringing hope to all those that look up to them by saying 'No matter what, you're still alive, and as long as you are alive, you have the ability to change the world for the better.' Every star makes the sky, so when you lose hope, remember, that all you need, is a spark of courage. One that will eventually light the fire of Hope."_

"I am looking to the stars, Mother, and I hope, wherever you are, that you will forgive me for my faults and failures", he whispered, his voice sounding like a prayer, cracked with intermittent sobs.

"Shmi would be proud of the man you are today, Anakin", came a voice, as a hand fell lightly on his shoulder.

He didn't need to look up to know who it was. The only person, apart from Padme, who had seen him at his worst. His brother by all definitions except blood.

"I failed her Obi-Wan. As much as I would like to deny that it was my fault, I can't."

Obi-wan sat down beside him, gazing up at the darkening sky.

"Despite all your possessed power, it is impossible for one to do everything and do it right. You can't save everyone, and that is the way of life. I was distraught after Maul killed Satine on Mandalore, and I still haven't come to terms with it, but I have accepted it. Your Mother wanted you to become a strong Jedi, and I cannot stress anymore when I say she would agree with me on this: You are strong and wise, and more of an ideal than anyone else in the Order. It's not your strength that makes people look up to you, but your character, and that has never wavered. Accepting that this was out of your hands is what she would expect of you."

Anakin merely sniffled, and Obi-Wan was reminded of the boy he once was, crying because he missed his mother, all those years back when they had first taken him from Tatooine to join the Order.

"She would've wanted you to be happy, Anakin, and not grieve for her. No one is perfect, and everyone has flaws, and all of us, including Shmi saw you for who you are: A strong man, who, at the end of the day, knew right from wrong. You have your head set on right, young one."

Anakin let out a dry chuckle, swallowing after a long time making him realise how constricted his throat was. He was immensely grateful when Obi-Wan took out his flask and offered him some water.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan", he said, his voice resounding with gratefulness in those two words.

"I'm always here for you. After all, what are brothers for?" Obi-Wan said, smiling as his face turned to look at Anakin, who took large gulps to soothe his throat. Wiping his eyes, he handed the flask back to his Master.

"How did you know I was here upset?"

Obi-Wan smiled kindly "Come on, how long have we known each other for? You think I wouldn't realize why you left for a 'walk'? I know what you're thinking most of the time, Anakin."

Pausing, he stood up and offered his former Padawan a hand, who, without a moment's hesitation, grasped it.

"Come on, Anakin. Let's go back inside. It's getting dark." He said, as Anakin pulled himself up.

"Yeah, and I don't fancy leaving Han in there with Dooku. If anyone can turn the Count back to the Dark Side, it's that kid."

"Now that you mention it, we should hurry." Obi-Wan said, grinning lightly.

The two brothers walked back towards the apartment side by side, twin pillars supporting each other through everything, as the twin Suns finally set in the background, the last vestiges of light slowly fading away to darkness.

Luckily, Han had apparently decided that the earlier ordeal with the Force compulsion had been enough action for a day and had turned in early, his wish to sink into his bed winning over his instinct to con and scam his way into the Count's wealth.

The next morning found them up slightly after dawn, strapping their armor on as they maintained their disguises. This time, however, the Jedi made sure their sabers were much more reachable in their concealment.

Obi-Wan was detailing the plan to the two SIS agents as Anakin strapped his bag to his speeder. "….And finally, I want you two covering us from a distance, and keep us appraised if you notice anyone or anything arriving. Sandman, I trust you can use a Sniper rifle?"

"Best shot in the squad I was trained with. Solo here is a natural with his blaster, but lacks practice with a sniper rifle. I'll have him watch my back."

"Alright, we move out in ten minutes. Set your comms to my frequency and encrypt. I don't want to take any chances."

Half an hour later, four speeders cut across the plains towards the Wastes, the riders completely covered with wraps, quite aware of the long journey ahead of them in the blazing hot Suns.

The journey to the Wastes itself lasted two hours, during which they made one stop to grab a quick bite before continuing. It was well over three hours when they neared the area they had determined as a plausible location for the Talisman the previous day.

"I'm going to branch off here and find a good vantage point!" Kitster yelled, as he veered off once the others nodded their assent, Han holding on to the speeder tightly as he made the turn.

The others slowed to a stop when their wrist locators showed them that they had reached the edge of the circular area and dismounted.

"I suppose it is better to proceed on foot from here" Obi-Wan said, as he took in his surroundings. They were in a ravine that narrowed in front of them, preventing more than two speeders to be able to go side by side. Rocky walls rose high along the path, sloping steeply with rocks perched along their length precariously. The path ahead split into two after some distance, and they noticed some cave openings lining the sides intermittently.

"Well, Anakin, I suppose it's time to go Glowstick mode", Dooku said.

"Eyesight trouble, Count?" Anakin smirked, before closing his eyes to concentrate and enter Sage Mode. It took him ten long seconds, but when he finally opened his eyes, the ravine was no more just rock, but more of the Force flowing in and around it to him.

"After me, then."

"Do you sense anything?" Obi-Wan asked, walking behind Anakin as he surveyed the area.

"Not yet, but let's keep moving. I have a hunch as to what to look for."

As they kept walking, Anakin kept a look out for two things, an unnatural flow in the Force and any evil intent he could sense.

It was almost ten minutes of walking down the ravine before he felt a slightly cold feeling creep in over the edges, and he narrowed it down by sensing the direction it was coming from.

"There, that tunnel. I feel a slight disturbance in the Force." He said, pointing at an opening to the side some distance up the wall on the right.

Wordlessly, all three of them Force leapt up into it, the darkness swallowing them whole.

A voice crackled over their wrist communicators. "This is Sandman, come in."

"We hear you. Have you found a location?"

"Yeah, but I don't have you in my sight anymore."

"We're inside a tunnel, off to the right of the ravine, but if my senses are right, it opens up some distance ahead. Still, we might be losing communication from here on. We're running deep into the rock."

"Yeah, I see an open cavern some distance. I'll let you know if I see something from here." He said, closing the voice channel.

Dooku voiced a question, his voice perplexed. "How do you know the tunnel opens up? I can barely see anything."

"I am seeing through the Force, like I told you. I don't need light for visibility. I can feel the tunnel open up some distance ahead."

His words proved true a good twenty minutes later, as they turned a corner and the tunnel suddenly opened up into a wide clearing. They were some distance up from the ground, and a rocky bridge of sorts connected the tunnel to a wide rock formation that rose up from the ground. The top of the rock was even and wide enough to house multiple AT-TE walkers, and it was at the center of this that a small podium stood.

The three of them made their way towards it, but they had barely stepped out on to the bridge that Dooku stopped.

"I can't come further. I can sense the Dark Side emanating from that thing, and it's drawing me in. I'm still susceptible to its influence, I can feel it."

Obi-Wan frowned, but nodded. "Alright, go back down the tunnel and wait at the entrance. We'll meet you there unless we need back up."

Dooku nodded, and walked back into the tunnel, while the other two proceeded towards the podium. The podium was an outcrop of the rock itself, smoothened over time to look like it had been placed here, from some distance away.

The center of the podium was carved into a hollow, at the middle of which lay…

"Is that a mask?" Anakin asked.

"Looks like it."

"Looks really ugly."

"Well, the guy who wore it probably looked uglier. I'm guessing it belonged to a Sith, else it wouldn't be prominent enough for it to be chosen as a host for the spirit."

"Given how the Sith were into really weird rituals, I'm not surprised most of them turned out ugly."

Obi-Wan reached out to pick up the mask, but stopped as Anakin slapped his hand away.

"Don't. I see some type of Force field around it. I don't think it'll do you any good if you touch it."

"Okay, then how do you suppose we take it out?"

Anakin turned to look at his Master with a raised eyebrow, as if to say _"Really?"_ , and stretched out a hand, pulling the Mask to his palm using the Force. Simplest fix ever.

"Right." Obi-Wan said, for once seeming sheepish. "This does house the soul-piece?"

"Yeah, I read the same Force signature from it. Oh, look, the Force field is gone. Looks like this thing was powering it."

"Makes sense. I doubt the Sith would've wanted it to be taken by some Tusken that just happened upon it. You have to be a Force-wielder to even touch it. Else, you aren't worthy. Damn these Sith and their prejudices."

"True that. Anyway, now for the next part. We need to find that Bounty Hunter, and I don't supposed taking this to a high enough point and screaming "Over here! I have your Master!" is going to do the trick."

"Actually, I think that might just do it", Obi-Wan mused.

Their talk was suddenly interrupted by a chirp on their wristcomms.

"What is it, Kit?" Anakin asked.

"You have company. Something too fast to be a Tusken leapt out of another tunnel and jumped into yours."

Both of their eyes widened in unison.

"Dooku! Come in!"

"He's too deep inside, we can't get a signal!"

"I'm going in." Anakin said, but Obi-Wan stopped him.

"No, it won't do us any good given the size of the tunnel and the darkness. Besides, Dooku is too far ahead of us to get to him in time. The Count can take care of himself."

"What? What do we do in the meanwhile, then?"

"Lay the trap. Draw him out. He wants the mask, after all."

"You plan to use Dooku as bait." Anakin realized.

"Yes, and he knows. We thought of this yesterday night. The reason we didn't tell you, is because, frankly, we felt you would react the way you are right now."

"Point taken. Still, next time, just loop me in."

Obi-Wan nodded, and then proceeded to draw his saber into his hand as Anakin stuffed the mask in his bag.

Their wristcomms chirped in unison a minute later, and with a look at Anakin, Obi-Wan answered.

"Dooku?"

"Oh noo, hee hee hee. Grandpa's not here! He left me a gift, though, and I'm coming to take gifts from you!" The transmission ended before either could respond.

"It seems like our hunter isn't right in the head. I didn't know the Talisman could drive you crazy."

"Prolonged contact could, I suppose. I hope Dooku got away safe."

They snapped to look at the tunnel in unison as running footsteps echoed through it.

Without pausing, the duo switched on their sabers.

"Here goes nothing" Anakin said, as a figure ran out into the light.

Given the sardonic and gleeful laughter earlier, they had not been sure about what to expect, but they definitely didn't expect it to be an ordinary looking man with wraps around his head. Anakin, primarily had thought of something along the lines of how Sidious had looked back on Coruscant.

The Bounty Hunter was clad in full armor and carried a massive rifle slung across his back. In his right hand was clasped a lightsaber very tightly, as if it might fly away if he loosened his grip.

Obi-Wan, however, seemed to recognize him. "Dengar", he whispered to Anakin out of the corner of his mouth. "Last I knew he was working for Gardulla the Hutt. Ever since Gardulla's death almost a year back, we've had no trace of his activity."

"Well, looks like we found him. I'm guessing he was trying to plunder Jabba's wealth and caught sight of the saber. Let's rid him of it, shall we?"

"You have something of mine, Jedi", the Hunter said, eyes narrowed.

"Finders keepers, Bounty Hunter."

Dengar frowned. "Master must be whole, and I must obey Master. If you will not give it to me, then you are my enemy hee hee."

Anakin looked sideways at Obi-Wan. "What's with that laughter?"

"It's affecting his mind, and I don't know how much longer he can live in this state. Look at his eyes and face closely."

It was then that Anakin saw the wrecked state their opponent was in. Bloodshot eyes, spasming eyelids and facial muscles, and irises widened to the extreme showed just how much the soul spirit was affecting the other man.

Before either of them could move, Dengar doubled over, dark energies seeping out from him. He stumbled forward a few steps and then straightened again, but this time, in a much more robotic manner.

 **"You have chosen the wrong Bounty Hunter to mess with, Jedi. Now, you shall die"** , came a much deeper and familiar voice.

Anakin's eyes widened in realization, but that was all he could do before the hunter leapt at them, sweeping his saber in an arc. Without a word, the two Jedi slipped into their respective roles, having fought side by side for years.

Obi-Wan blocked the strike while Anakin flipped over them and landed behind Dengar, swiveling his body as he swung his saber at the man's back, intending to cripple him. The Bounty hunter reacted with lightning fast reflexes, parrying Anakin's strike and thrusting forward.

In an instant, Anakin became aware of a problem. Anakin in his Force-enhanced Sage Mode and Dengar fueled by the Talisman were both much faster, agile and physically stronger than Obi-Wan, despite the Order's general belief that he was one of the best duelists. Obi-Wan seemed to realize this too as his Soresu was being pushed to the extreme for him to parry and defend against incoming slashes. This battle would have barely been challenging had he been the only opponent, but working with someone wasn't favorable in this situation. The only reason he wasn't hurt was due to his perfect mastery of the form, and his opponent's complete lack of one. Dengar, or whoever was controlling him, fought like a Berserker, relying purely on speed and strength.

He realized that Anakin already had an upper hand, especially with his enhanced precognition, and immediately leapt back. "Anakin, two of us is overkill. Take care of him while I look for Dooku!"

Anakin nodded without taking his eyes off his opponent and unleashed his next flurry of strikes in perfect Djem-So sync. Dengar's unrefined attempts at blocking and evading proved fruitless as Anakin's saber nicked and cut him multiple times, his speed being the only this preventing dismemberment.

Realizing his obvious disadvantage, he flipped back and brought his hands up, palms held like claws.

"Uh oh" Anakin said, all too familiar with that motion and the sensation it brought with it.

The first bout of lightning sent Anakin's saber flying from his hand when he tried to ground it and he proceeded to erect a Force ward immediately after, which proved to be a smart move as the next stream of lightning was much more powerful and covered a wider area. This time, however, Anakin had no problem holding out against the lightning onslaught. This man was much weaker than Sidious had been, and Anakin himself had grown much stronger since then.

Still, however, Anakin needed an opening to be able to finish this battle. He was currently unable to do anything as he didn't have his saber and needed some amount of concentration to push against the incoming force.

He was debating trying to hold the shield with one hand and use Force Push with the other when a high-powered round slammed into his opponent's arm, throwing him off balance and severing his hand off in the process.

Dengar proceeded to stare dumbly at the stump his arm had turned into. Anakin chose this moment to promptly smash his bionic right arm into Dengar's face, knocking the living daylights out of him.

Anakin shut off his Sage mode and looked to his left, seeing Kitster standing some distance off on top of a rock formation that rose higher than his current position.

He lifted his wristcom and spoke into it. "Thanks, Kit. I owe you one."

"Yeah, you looked helpless without me" came the snarky reply.

"See if you can contact Obi-Wan. I'm going to tie this guy up before he wakes."

"Master Kenobi's on his way back to you. He found the Count halfway along the tunnel, unharmed. Apparently he flung his communicator at the Bounty Hunter, ran and hid, for some reason."

"Probably so that if we lost him, he could still be tracked. The Hunter wasn't right in the head, so he was probably not thinking of any of that, at all. Anyway, make your way back to the tunnel entrance. We'll meet you there."

"Understood.", the communicator clicked off.

After tying up the Bounty Hunter, he paused, looking at the severed hand still clutching the lightsaber lying on the ground. The hand was somehow seared into contact with the saber's outer shaft, making him realize now as to why the Bounty Hunter hadn't regained control of himself once he dropped the saber: he simply couldn't. The pain alongside the strength of the talisman itself had made it easy for the soul fragment to take control of him.

"Good to see you're not the one who lost a limb this time", Obi-Wan's voice floated up to him.

"Yes, well, I decided one cybernetic limb was enough." Anakin quipped, turning to face the other as he levitated the severed hand and saber up to him using the Force.

"Looks like it's stuck to the saber."

"Yeah, I'm guessing that's why our man didn't get freed from its control when he needed a restroom break."

"At any rate, the cybernetic limb he'll get should help his hand not sticking to every dark artifact he picks up."

Anakin chuckled and asked "Well, what do we do with him, though? The Hutts are looking for him and I doubt Jabba would be okay with us taking him into medical custody. He probably wants his head", as he wrapped up the severed hand along with the saber and put it in his backpack.

"We can't give him to the Hutts for the exact same reason. This mission was undercover anyway, so let's leave here with the Hutts none the wiser. They can keep looking for him."

Obi-Wan hadn't even shut his mouth after finishing his sentence when three speeders and a troop transport appeared on the rim of the cavern, and a voice bellowed out of the transport.

"You there! Hand over that Bounty hunter! He's a prisoner of Jabba the Hutt! Do not resist or we'll shoot you down!"

Anakin sighed in exasperation and turned to look at Obi-Wan. "You just had to say it, didn't you?"

"Don't blame me, I had no idea they were coming!"

An indignant "HEY!" sounded from the transport's speakers as its pilot saw them engage in a conversation.

In response to his yell, a high powered sniper shot slammed into the transport's engine, seemingly from nowhere, knocking it out of the sky as its passengers tried to leap out of the falling craft.

"He's a lifesaver, that one", Anakin commented.

"Save it for later, Anakin! Here comes the cavalry."

They both ignited their sabers as the three speeders sped towards them, one from the front while the other two came around from the sides in order to cut them off.

The pillion rider on each pulled out a rifle or a blaster and started firing indiscriminately at the duo, who simply reflected them on to an oncoming speeder, making the pilots swerve and completely ruin their formation.

"Idiot! Don't fire until you have a clear shot!"

"You almost got me with that one!"

"Get them! And careful, they're Jedi!"

Shouts rang out from all sides as the speeders swerved back towards them for a second pass. This time, both of them leapt into action.

Anakin rolled under incoming fire instead of deflecting it, anticipating the driver's swerve, and brought his saber up in an arc, slicing the front of the speeder right off. The speeder careened out of control as it fell off the rock formation they were standing on, taking its two riders with it who tried to jump to safety unsuccessfully.

Obi-Wan, on the other hand, flipped over the first speeder, tossing an EMP at it mid-flip as it passed underneath, which went off spectacularly, knocking out the speeder and its riders who were thrown off at the sudden loss of momentum. He landed and swung his saber at a blinding speed, deflecting an oncoming blaster bolt right back at the speeder, taking out the pilot with a single shot. Its pillion managed to jump off before the speeder fell off the side of the rock and stood up, bringing his rifle up to take aim at the advancing Jedi, only to find he couldn't move anymore.

Swerving his eyeballs to the side, he saw the other Jedi advance with his hand outstretched towards him. Panic settled into him as he realized that the Jedi had him frozen in place using the Force.

 _"Damn it, they don't pay me enough for this nonsense. They never mentioned we would have to face off against Jedi, and ones this strong to boot!"_ he thought.

Grimacing with effort as he tried to move his jaw, he tried to speak but it came out as a strange gurgling shout.

"Anakin, I think he's trying to say something."

Anakin released the man's head from his Force Stasis, but still bound his arms and legs in place.

"Hey, listen, we were jus' asked to find tha' man there and bring 'im back. We didn't know you were Jedi and tried to scare ya with blasters. Don't want any trouble, jus' lemme go. They dun' pay me enough for this 'nyway."

"Sure" Anakin replied, "I don't intend to harm you. What I'm about to do, though, is for your benefit as much as ours."

Saying that, he concentrated and entered Sage Mode once again.

 **"You will forget what happened here. You were knocked out by an unseen sniper and never saw the target you were sent to apprehend. You do not know what happened to your teammates."**

The man simply slumped in response, unable to sustain any resistance to the Force Compulsion.

"Forget the others. The ones who aren't dead are just the two I got with that EMP, and they probably won't remember anything once they're up."

Anakin shut his eyes and let go of the Force he was drawing in, his senses returning to normal. "Alright, let's take our prisoner and leave before these guys get up, or someone else shows up."

They walked down the tunnel, with Anakin lugging the still out-cold bounty hunter using the speeder Obi-Wan had knocked out using the EMP, and emerged from the other side to see the rest of their squad waiting, the SIS agents having their weapons drawn.

"Easy there, it's just us. Am I glad you stayed behind to keep an eye even though I asked you to pack up."

"The mission ain't over until it's over." Kitster grinned, "Did you get what you were looking for?"

"Yeah, got it. It's in my backpack. And we're taking this one to a Medical facility on Coruscant, before we lock him up."

"Well then, let's get outta here. Don't fancy this place much, what with all the Sand People."

"Oh, the Sandman is afraid of Sand People?" Anakin laughed.

"I'm going to have to respectfully ask you to shut it, Master Jedi."

The party made their way back to their hideout, Anakin and Kitster good-naturedly bickering the entire way, and they reached the apartment just before the twin suns set.

Once everyone else had settled in, Anakin looked at Obi-Wan.

"Obi-Wan, I'd like to visit my Mother's grave tomorrow. Maybe we could stop by and see the Lars while we're at it."

"I would like to come as well, then, if you don't mind. I would like to pay my respects."

"Sure thing. 'Night, old friend."

The twinkling stars settled a soothing calm over the desert, as the occupants fell asleep one by one, each tired out due to their ordeal.

Except for the Bounty Hunter. He hadn't woken up since he had been knocked out, as they had elected to slap an adhesive anesthetic strip on to his arm.

* * *

 **A/N 2: Sorry for cutting off the chapter abruptly, but it was getting kinda long for my tastes. :P Can't always have a cliffhanger, now can we?**


	12. Brewing Confrontation

**A/N 1: Well, my writing schedule has been completely blown to bits. Honestly, I was surprised to see people still ask me to continue this. Thanks, guys xD**

 **Anyway, here's the next one. I figured it was time to pick up the pace a bit. Hope y'all enjoy this! Also, I'll try and update the next one soon. Tell me what you like/didn't like/want me to include in the reviews.**

 **Thanks for your patience, and** **May the Force be with you!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **(Dagobah, Outer rim territories)**

Jedi Grand Master Yoda leapt out of his Starfighter as its hatch lifted on landing. Given his diminutive size, his Starfighter was flown by his astromech droid, as being able to reach the controls is an important factor in piloting any ship. He landed on his two feet and summoned his cane to him from the ship, using it to lean on while walking.

Pausing to survey his immediate surroundings, he felt around with the Force to determine life forms nearby. Not sensing any except a few amphibians in the bog, he turned to his astromech and said, "Wait here. Not long, will I be."

The droid blew a series of whistles and chirps in an affirmative response.

Yoda knew what he was looking for. Dagobah was a planet saturated in the Force, situated on a particularly strong nexus and completely untainted by the presence of any colonists. It was inhabited only by wildlife and nature, and the high amount of life saturated the flow of the Force.

Despite the entire planet's gloomy look, given how it was almost completely and always shrouded in fog and mist, it still was a balanced nexus.

Except for one location, which was saturated in the Dark side to such an extent, it brought up hallucinations and such within even the strongest Force users: The Cave of Despair. Yoda had ventured within only once throughout his entire life on this planet, and it had been his worst experience in life, ever. Back then, he had only presumed it to be so tainted in the Dark side because it was trying to balance out the absence of negativity everywhere else on the planet, but he knew better now. The rest of the planet **was** balanced, and this one place was not.

Probably because it housed a Sith Talisman in its depths.

Yoda had no idea as to how that thing had got here, but that was not the issue at hand.

He had denied any accompaniment because he knew no one else, perhaps except Anakin, would be powerful enough to resist the effects of the Dark Side which were so prevalent here. Skywalker himself was an only exception due to his extremely large Midichlorian count, which rendered most mind-altering effects of the Dark Side null and void on him. Yoda was second to no one in experience when it came to research on the aspects of the Force given how he'd been alive for over eight hundred years now, and it was this Mastery of his that he trusted to tide him over the Dark Side's influence.

He leapt from the ground on to the branch of a tree nearby, using the Force to augment his muscles to increase his leap and speed. Having spent so many decades on this planet, he didn't need a map to find the cave, but even without that the cave's location was apparent enough to anyone that wasn't completely cut off from the Force, given how much it reeked of the Dark Side in the Force. The disturbance was evident from hundreds of kilometers away, and, Yoda, thankfully, was less than five kilometers away. He leapt from branch to branch in fluid continuity as he sped towards the entrance to the cave, his form a blur to any native creatures that turned its eyes on him.

It took him twenty minutes to navigate his way through Dagobah's thick undergrowth, a feat no one else would've been capable of. For once, his size worked in his favor; anyone else would've been forced to move through the thickly forested area very slowly or wade through treacherous bogs. His smaller figure, alongside his strength in the Force, allowed him to leap through the trees with agility that would've put most Jedi to shame.

He landed twenty feet away from the cave's entrance and paused to catch his breath. Sitting down, he crossed his legs and drew in on the living Force, making sure he only drew in on the Balance to sustain himself. Drawing in on the Dark side, especially while being this close to the entrance was extremely dangerous.

Finding himself to be operating at normal rates and having bolstered his mind and body with the Force, he stood up and trudged forward on his two legs, leaving his stick and lightsaber behind.

This was a do or die situation, and he could only rely on what he was sure he could control, which was the Force. His lightsaber would be useless against non-physical enemies. He also knew that if he failed, there wouldn't be a second chance. There never was, not when dealing with the Dark side. It was why he always said to his fellow Jedi:

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

If you didn't give it your all, it was as pointless as not doing anything. Commitment was either a hundred percent, or not at all.

He jumped down a ledge into the cave, and the darkness within swallowed him whole.

Yoda felt that, somehow, his species had evolved specifically with Dagobah in mind. His larger than normal eyes and irises allowed him much better vision than most other species, and he had no trouble navigating the narrow passage thick with underbrush due to his short appendages. His extremely high aptitude with the Force also helped him sense his way through.

The dark, damp tunnel opened into a small chamber, which looked barren except for thick roots growing in the center, spiraling upwards into the ceiling. There was one other tunnel leading to the room right opposite to where he stood.

The moment Yoda crossed over the threshold into the chamber, the scene changed. The walls were still made of dirt, but they were lined with torches placed in brackets almost two meters off the ground. The chamber itself was much larger than before, at least ten times the size, and at its center now stood a pedestal.

Yoda blinked, sensing that this was an illusion, and tried to purge his mind by pulling on the Force, but it felt like someone had dropped a blanket on his mind, making dissipating the illusion just out of his reach.

The sudden wall of negative emotions that hit him almost manage to catch him by surprise, but hundreds of years of experience had made sure he reacted exceedingly fast to even the lightest of shifts in the Force, and he threw up a mental shield that dissipated the attack harmlessly enough.

The suddenness of the attack still had him blinking to try and clear his mind, and it was then that he noticed dark spots gathering in his visions. He shook his head, trying to clear the spots away when he realized that it wasn't just in his mind, but he was actually seeing Dark spots.

The purple-black blobs moved inwards to the center of the room, right in between him and the pedestal and coalesced into a vaguely into a humanoid shape.

And out of this dark mass stepped out a figure Yoda knew all too well.

"Darth Sidious."

"Grand Master Yoda", came the mocking reply, as the figured took a step forward, his face ominously shadowed in the flickering light.

To his surprise, Yoda found his lightsaber attached to his belt, and wasted no time in drawing it. Sidious followed suit, sliding out two sabers, one into each hand.

Before Yoda could move, Sidious lashed out with a bout of Force lightning and spoke with a sinister voice, "You made a mistake coming here, Yoda. You've no idea how much I've wanted to kill you, my little green friend."

Yoda caught the lightning in his fist and simply absorbed it, earning a surprised look from Sidious.

"Not if anything to say about it, I have!", he said defiantly, and used the Force he had absorbed from the lightning to hit Sidious with an augmented Force push, essentially turning his own power against him.

Sidious went crashing ass-over-tea kettle, unable to stop the sudden burst of power.

"Talk too much, you do. If so powerful you are, prove it", Yoda said, his voice brimming with confidence.

Sidious rose from the ground, mostly unharmed, and launched himself at Yoda, yelling out loud, enraged at his unexpected fall.

Yoda was a master of the Ataru form which employed acrobatics in its moves, with no real competitor when it came to its execution. Augmented extensively by the Force, Yoda was able to perform all leaps and flips extremely fast and with deadly accuracy, his amplified precognition always keeping him aware of any dangers.

While Sidious was also a master duelist, Yoda simply had no equal, given his small size and agility. The location working to his favor, Yoda was easily able to evade any incoming blows, and retaliate with almost blinding speed.

Sidious slashed low with one saber and followed through with a stab from the other in a hope to get Yoda when the latter jumped, but Yoda flipped and leapt off the wall before Sidious' other saber was anywhere near him, jumping over the man's head and managing to nick him in the shoulder mid-flip. Sidious turned on one foot and swung both his sabers together at the Jedi Master, who caught them on his blade.

Sidious proceeded to hold off Yoda's saber with one of his and pulled the other back to try at swing it at his opponent's exposed torso. Yoda perceived this move and freed up a hand, leaving his saber locked against Sidious' using just his other arm, and waited.

Sidious stabbed at his waist, and Yoda grabbed his saber point blank, using the Force as a glove, preventing it from impaling his hand. Sidious blinked, confusion emanating from his shadowed figure as he was now unable to pull his saber free. Yoda pushed further, a visible outflow of the Force gathering between his hand and the saber as the two forces fought for superiority. Unrelenting, both of them continued to push further, confident that they would succeed.

Sidious' voice started as a low growl and finished as an anguished yell as he put his full strength into trying to impale Yoda, whose brows were furrowed in effort and concentration.

The stress cracked Sidious' lightsaber blade, and a second later, it shattered.

Sidious stumbled at the sudden loss of an opposing force. Yoda didn't, and proceeded to slam the ball of Force gathered in his hand into Sidious' chest, sending the latter flying across the room, his torso completely shattered.

A completely defeated Sidious spat out blood and gave Yoda one last hateful stare, before the light went out of his eyes.

Yoda paused to catch his breath.

In an instant, the scene melted back into the Cave of Despair and the spot where Sidious lay was now empty. The pedestal, somehow, was still there though, and it was to this that Yoda hobbled over to.

On top of the pedestal lay a belt, still powerfully pulsating with a dark energy. Yoda lifted it with the Force, and made his way out of the cave, not pausing to halt or look back. He'd had enough of the Dark Side for now, and it was getting painfully constricting to his balanced Force core.

* * *

 **(Dromund Kaas, 2 weeks later)**

The Imperial Citadel rose high against the stormy night, its red lighting making it an impressive and dominating sight in Kaas City. It gave off just the one aura: Power. It had been the center of power for the Sith Empire long ago, and it was poised to be so once again.

No single individual except for the Emperor himself had ever seen the depths of the citadel itself.

Rumor had it, that some of the Galaxy's most powerful artifacts were hidden there. Secrets so terrifying, that no Sith could ever venture there and come back out alive.

The main ring of the Citadel was thronged with Sith, acolytes and trainees, and other important Imperial personas. Every Sith who had finished the trials on Korriban was summoned to Dromund Kaas and assigned to a Master.

The Sith Empire now had a total of a few hundreds of acolytes, almost a hundred apprentices and about thirty Sith Lords. Their numbers were nothing compared to what the Jedi possessed, but strength never grew overnight. It would take time, but the Empire would return to full force and take over the Galaxy.

Korriban, meanwhile, was training another fresh batch of Sith, with the total number of Dark Side users on that planet now exceeding a couple of hundreds, including Force-sensitive slaves, trainees, apprentices and overseers. Two Dark Lords were left in charge of running the Academy.

Apart from the Sith, Kaas City also housed the center of Imperial Intelligence and Operations Command. Both were in towers next to the Imperial Citadel itself, connected to the Citadel via skybridges. The three towers were connected to the rest of Kaas City via taxi pads, with no walkable connection. Turrets scanned the skies from various levels on the three towers, operated by troopers and droids alike.

Imperial Intelligence and Operations Command were both to be headed by the next Dark Lords on the Council but was currently just run by a single Grand Moff each, who reported directly to Maul and Vitiate.

Grand Moff Tarkin ran Operations Command, while Grand Moff Thrawn was the overseer for Imperial Intelligence.

Tarkin was a prominent military figure in the Republic, up until he had been "recruited" by Sidious. Sidious' contingency had also involved having key targets he felt would be sympathetic to his cause either convinced to join him, or to be kidnapped and given two choices: Join him, or die.

It was a week after the issuance of Order 65 on Corsucant, that Tarkin had found Maul waiting for him in his chambers, with a holo of Sidious floating next to him. After being liberally Force Choked, he had realized that it would be in his best interest to continue to serve the ex-Supreme Chancellor of the Republic in his new endeavor. It was also true that he would have signed up for this even without having to be forced. After all, he did despise the Jedi and their "weak" ways.

Thrawn was another story, however. He was a blue-skinned Chiss who was a symbolic figure in the Ascendancy and wielded a lot of power amongst his kind. Known for being an unparalleled tactician, and an individual with almost no equal when it came to intellect, he had somehow found out about Dromund Kaas and the rising Sith Empire on his own and had arrived at the spaceport with a contingent of Chiss soldiers, asking to sign up. He was gladly taken on board and rose to a position of power in almost no time, owing to his mental prowess, and became the only humanoid alien to be seen as an equal or superior by all other humans in the new Empire.

Imperial intelligence now spearheaded all recon and infiltration operations. Data collected by intelligence was forwarded to Ops Command, who would take care of staging assaults and expanding the army and navy.

The main issue the Empire currently faced was the lack of a strong enough Navy and too few Infantry forces, alongside handling funding costs. Armies didn't feed themselves, and neither did ships sprout on trees. Vitiate's reserved were stretched thin running the current Empire itself, and hence, they required additional assets, if they were to expand.

It was to this end that three of the most prominent figures in the Empire walked into one of the designated meeting rooms in the Imperial Citadel. This room, like most others in the building, was decked out in the color scheme of the Empire, with flowing red carpets and Imperial banners hanging on the walls. A large holo-table stood in the center of the room, with chairs arranged around it. The room had the added functionality that it was completely isolated from external influence and surveillance, and hence served as the perfect meeting place for discussing anything high profile.  
Currently, the holo-table projected a section of the Core worlds, and the hooded figure of Darth Maul stood facing it, as Thrawn and Tarkin walked into the room.

"Lord Maul", bowing from the waist as they greeted him. Maul merely nodded his head in acknowledgement, without turning to look at them.

"Well, Grand Moff Thrawn, have you finished gathering intel for the raid? We're approaching our window of opportunity and don't seem to be ready to utilize it to the fullest."

"Yes, My Lord, the last reports came in just a few hours back. We're ready to plan our assault", Thrawn said, and proceeded to plug in his datapad into the holotable, while the other two proceeded to take seats facing him. The holomap zoomed in on the Core worlds sector, before resting on a large planet with a ring around it.

The "ring" was actually a massive man-made Shipyard that orbited the entirety of the planet of Kuat, making it one of the largest Shipyards in the galaxy. The Kuat Drive Yards, owing to it's massive size and manpower, could build a fleet in a much shorter time than any other existing Shipyard in the galaxy. After partnering with other prominent ship-builders like Rothana Engineering and Ubrikkian Industries, the quality of each product, as well as the range of products manufactured by them had expanded massively. Now, they produced not just starships and parts for them, but also lighter starfighters and land vehicles. The previously developed Venator-class and Acclamator assault ships were retro-fitted with better armor and hyperdrives, while starfighters like the Delta-7 were fitted with better sub-light engines, hydraulics and much higher firepower. After joining with Rendili StarDrive during, KDY took up additional projects requisitioned by other factions, and restarted production and revamped many of its paused product lines, such as the Mandator-class Star Dreadnought which became the base for the much more powerful Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts and the Praetor-class battlecruiser.

Sidious had placed an order for a six Executor-class Dreadnoughts, two dozen Battlecruisers comprised of a mix of the Venator and Praetor-class, and a large contingent of starfighters, gunships and troop carriers which were based off old Imperial designs and retrofitted with modern tech, secretly during his reign as Supreme Chancellor. He had made a small down payment for the order with funds leeched off Republic finances, with the rest to be paid upon completion.

Except now, he didn't really intend to complete the payment.

Kuat Drive Yards was the chief producer of the Republic Navy vessels, and Maul intended to kill two stonerays with one blaster shot with this assault. The future of the Empire depended on it, and a failure here would cripple them. Hence, it had to go perfectly.

There were 3 shipbuilding facilities on the ring itself, and Maul intended to attack each one of them simultaneously.

Thrawn marked the three facilities themselves on the map and proceeded to lay out his intel for the other two present in the room.

"The three shipbuilding centers and docking rings are situated around the ring, and hence we will need three separate strike teams to assault the Drive Yards. Our attack timing must be in the window between when the Drive Yards finish our Emperor's orders and before they finish construction of the next set of ships for the Republic, which gives us exactly three days, a month from now. The instant the Republic ships are built, there will be a large contingent of troops that arrive to take control of it, and we don't have the firepower to fight them right now."

"Our mission is subjective to us overcoming two hurdles: overcoming the ships patrolling the Drive Yards, and taking care of the infantry stationed within the shipyard itself. The Drive Yards ring itself has only scarce weaponry, but that brings us to our next problem: we can't hold the Drive Yards once word of our assault gets out, because the Republic Navy is going to send its whole fleet there. As the ring barely has defenses, we won't be able to hold off troops trying to board the shipyard. Our mission is, hence, to capture our ships and sabotage the Republic ones, and hightail it before the Navy gets there."

"Each of the three shipbuilding centers are guarded by multiple starships. Two of them are guarded by a Venator-class Republic aligned Jedi Cruiser as this is where the Republic ships are built and berthed along with our battle cruisers, while the third is guarded by a single Mandator-class Dreadnought and guards the docking ring where our Executor-class Dreadnoughts are berthed. I believe the infantry within the centers itself to be comprised of a few Jedi and a company of clones each in the former two, while the last has about two dozen local Kuati mercenaries commissioned by KDY guarding it."

Tarkin took in his Intelligence counterpart's words with deep consternation, and the size of the monumental task became apparent to him. Still, he had to hand it to Thrawn, the man's intel was excellent and contained every single piece of information that would be needed for an assault like this, down to the defending troop numbers and their schedules.

He stood up, one hand stroking his chin as he frowned and made his way to the holotable and paused. Noting the positions of the ships and each shipbuilding center itself, he turned around and laid out his thoughts.

"I would propose an indirect approach to this siege. A head-on assault would be highly detrimental, if not downright suicidal. We need an individual tactic for each strike team, as any similarities in the approach is likely to raise alarms. The teams going after the centers with Jedi need to have Sith amongst their numbers. The third center, while the easiest to take control of, will have the hardest exfiltration due to the Dreadnought. Grand Moff Thrawn, as you are privy to the troop numbers, schedules, locations and other vital intel, do you have any ideas for the approach?"

Thrawn gave Tarkin a thin-lipped smile, as if he found the latter amusing as one would a naïve child. Moving to look at Maul directly, he proceeded.

"Of course", he said. "My Lord, I propose the following tactics for each strike team. First, the teams assaulting the Republic-aligned centers will need to be split into two groups. One group needs to take care of the Jedi Cruiser, while the other proceeds to the station. The assault must begin at the same time. I have received intel from one of my scouts that exactly during the second day of our window, the Republic cruisers are set to receive a fresh batch of clone troopers as a rotation on guard duty, in a total of four troop transports. The troops are a fresh batch from the planet Kamino, in the Outer Rim, and provides enough time for us to intercept it. I propose we intercept the transport, load it up with Rydonium fuel and have one of our men pose as the pilot and fly it into the cruiser, upon which he is to detonate the canisters, effectively crippling the Cruiser.

By my calculations, we will have a little more than eight hours after detonation till the Republic Fleet arrives in full force. Any and all acquisitions must be completed within this duration."

"Wait, that's risky! Not to mention our cover is going to be blown if we take out the cruisers! Isn't there a better way to go about this?", Tarkin queried.

Thrawn smiled as he turned to Tarkin and said "Grand Moff Tarkin, irrespective of how we pull this off, the Republic is bound to know that there exists a faction strong enough to oppose them and bold enough to strike at the heart of their galaxy. This way, we send them a message laced with fear, that would show them exactly how ruthless we are. Although," Thrawn said, turning away from Tarkin to look back at the Galaxy map, "I do propose we avoid any Sith casualties. That would make the Republic aware of exactly what threat it is that they're facing. Without any evidence to force-users being left behind, it could be inferred as the work of a Crime Syndicate or any other faction or Alliance."

Maul stood up, clasping his arms behind his back. Staring at the detailed schematic of the massive Shipyard, he asked, "And what do you propose to do about acquiring our ships?"

"My Lord, as I said, the three strike teams need to have individual means of entry into the station. I would leave the team in-charge of the Dreadnoughts under your command, Lord Maul. You may choose your team as you wish. You will reach out to the station and state that you are here to make payment for the ships, even though you don't really intend to. The transaction, surprisingly, will be handled by the Kuat of Kuat, who is the ruler of the planet, as apart from the Republic this is the first order that has been received for a fleet of this size. When the Cruisers are taken out, security teams will scramble to lockdown the station, in every location but yours, as their protocol is to get the Kuat of Kuat planet-side for security. It would be easy for you to dispatch the troops left behind, as the majority would leave with the Kuat himself, and as the threat would be believed to be centered around the other two stations. From there, it would be an easy matter for your strike team to take command of the Dreadnoughts, and take out the guardian Kuati Dreadnought from behind."

"What about the other two stations?"

"I propose feigning damage to a starship and requesting to land for repairs. Thousands of starships and cruisers land at the Drive Yards for repairs, and it would be easy for our troops to sneak into the Drive Yards in one and take control of our ships. I estimate we would require at least a hundred troops for each station, as we have a dozen ships berthed at this center. I've already contacted the Drive Yards and ensured that all our requisitioned starfighters are berthed within the ships themselves, making exfiltration simpler for us."

Tarkin looked like he was not completely satisfied with the strategy and queried, "You propose that each team will dispatch the troops within the station, including the Jedi, and then proceed to take control of our ships within eight hours? That's impossible."

Thrawn merely smiled.

"I know. This is exactly where you come in, Grand Moff Tarkin. You will launch an attack on the berthed Jedi Cruisers with the starfighters we have in our position. Your mission would be to destroy as many Republic ships as you can and hold off the enemy starfighters that launch from within the Drive Yards till the strike teams give an all-clear signal on securing the ships. When you launch an attack from outside, the enemy will naturally assume it's all an external confrontation and rush out of the station to take care of the threat, leaving the strike team with enough time and manpower to get our ships out. I leave the details of the navy assault to you, as I believe it's well within your capabilities to plan."

Maul smiled internally at the little game Thrawn was playing. While he was simply laying out his intel, he had also managed to make Tarkin seem slightly inferior to himself and was subtly asserting his own dominance. Thrawn was a dangerous one and would have to be kept an eye on.

"I leave forming final assault tactics, troop composition and the details of the Navy assault to the two of you. In the meantime, I will assemble my own Strike team, and confer with the Emperor. Speak to me once you've secured the Republic shuttles. Remember, failure will be punished.", Maul said as he turned and walked out of the room, effectively dismissing them.

* * *

 **(Hyperspace, Mid-Rim territories, two days before the assault)**

CT-89-6342, better known to his comrades as "Havoc", stretched as he felt sleepiness creep into him.

"Man, we've got another two days in this cramped space. And after that? Guard duty. Pfft, I'd rather be positioned somewhere far less boring. I heard there's some revolution on Ord Mantell. My supreme skills would be better off there."

"Aww, shut your whining Havoc. Every assignment is important, and this one is your first ever. Take it with full responsibility!", CT-89-6421 "Duty" said.

"Yeah, you and your responsibility nonsense, Duty. Man, they should've stuck you into Clone Intelligence. I have no idea why you're on assault squads."

"Probably because I scored better than all of you combine on sniper training."

Clone Captain Jace chuckled as he listened on the banter the clones engaged in. Despite being wet behind the ears, this batch was a promising one. They had easily aced every single test and worked brilliantly as a unit, and for once, didn't have a huge ego. Jace knew these boys would go far.

Havoc was named as he was because of his proficiency with weaponry and artillery. The boy could was an amazing shot with every weapon and was a fearless leader. Jace, nicknamed after his idol Jace Malcolm who was the Supreme Commander of the Old Republic, had given Havoc his name as a reference to Jace Malcolm's own Havoc squad, believed to be the best of the best. Duty was an excellent sniper and a believer of textbook protocol and a soldier's duty, who sometimes proved to be the voice of reason for the squad. The rest of the squad comprising of Jug, Slasher, Lewd, Bot and Bactor were brilliant soldiers, each specializing in their respective field. Jug, like Havoc, favored a rotary blaster and was much more heavily built than the rest of the team, earning him the nickname "Jug", short for Juggernaut. Slasher and Lewd were melee weaponry experts, with Jedi-like skills with a vibroblade. Bot was the communications and tech expert, while Bactor was the team medic.

Jace sat in the captain's chair musing to himself about his missions during the Clone Wars. His most memorable mission was probably the one on Geonosis. Even though clone losses had been heavy, and he'd lost a member of his unit, it had been a decisive win for the Republic. Heck, he'd even got to see the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in action!

The sudden blaring of emergency alarms broke his reverie. He jolted, staring out of the windshield as he tried to scour the view for signs of trouble.

 _"What the heck? We're in hyperspace! What could cause us an issue here? Did a Purrgil get into hyperspace around them? If so…. Wait, why the heck are the streaks fading in such an obtuse manner?"_

Alarm shot through his head as he realized what was happening.

"Pilot, did you give the command to exit hyperspace?"  
"No, Sir! Something seems to be pulling us out!"

"What? How's that possible?!", Jace queried, disbelief creeping into his tone.

"No idea, Sir, but it's like, some external force is making us brake!"

A second later, the streak faded into spots as all four of the troop transports slammed to a halt, the inertial compensators working overtime to overcome the abrupt halt from lightspeed.

"This is insane! What's…" Jace was forced to eat his words as he saw two giant battlecruisers on either side of the transports.

"Sir, they've blocked all long-range communications and have us trapped in some form of gravity well. I guess that's how they managed to pull us out of Hyperspace. Shit, those things must be insanely powerful to do that. We've also lost all controls.", the pilot responded, looking at his screens.

Jace's mouth hardened. "Pilot, stay here. They're probably going to pull us in with a tractor beam. I'll prep the boys for a fight. You said long-range comms are cut off? Try the short-range ones and tell the troops in the other transports to get ready for a fight."

"Yessir!", the pilot said, as he bent over the communications console.

Without wasting time, he jumped up and ran out of the cockpit, leaping a flight of stairs as he made his way to the troop hold. He felt the ship jolt and move as a tractor beam pulled them towards one of the ships.

He wasn't in the least bit surprised to see his squad already geared up and waiting. These boys were truly special.

"Sir, what's…?"

"Boys, someone's managed to pull us out of hyperspace with a gravity well. We're probably going to be boarded once they land our ship inside their cruiser. The identity and size of the enemy force is unknown. Right now, we have a new mission. We need to fight our way to either their communications console or destroy the communication jammers and get a message out to the Republic. A faction with these kinds of weapons is no small threat. Let's give them one hell of a fight. For the Republic!"

"For the Republic!", the clones echoed, and took up positions behind crates and aimed their weapons at the exit door. Havoc moved to the center and deployed a temporary shield, as he pulled out his Z-6 rotary blaster cannon from its storage crate. He would blow those fools to bits.

Duty, meanwhile took up a prone position on one of the double bunks that they used to sleep in. He set his sniper rifle to the door and adjusted the scope, his index finger lightly tracing the trigger. Havoc would get his wish fulfilled after all, in a way.

Jace pulled out two blaster pistols from his hip holsters and took up a kneeling position beside Havoc.

They all felt the ship land, as without its struts deployed, it didn't really land smoothly. Tensed, they all waited for something to happen at the door.

A moment later, an enormous force slammed into all of them, easily lifting them into the air while simultaneously crushing their throats, effectively choking them.

Jace scrambled helplessly as he clawed at his throat, watching with terrified eyes as the entire squad thrashed and kicked in the same manner. Someone behind him lost control, probably Bot, as he pulled the trigger on his rifle in reflex. Blaster shots rang out around the hold, and one punched into Havoc's helmet, making the man go limp almost immediately.

 _"Shit, what the -? Force-users? We can't….fight… Is this….the…end? Help-"_

Jace's vision turned blurry and blackness crept in from the sides as he saw his troops fall limp one at a time.

The force dropped them without relinquishing its grasp on their throats. His last vision was that of the door smoothly sliding open as a garbed figure with glowing yellow eyes walked in, his right hand outstretched in a grasping hold.

Not a single enemy went down as all clone troopers in the transports were slaughtered almost instantly.

In the command center that overlooked the hangar, Grand Moff Thrawn stood silently with his hands clasped behind his back, a smile playing on his lips as he saw the plan he had set in motion proceed smoothly. The Emperor would be pleased.


End file.
